301.010. Definitions.
Definitions.
301.010. As used in this chapter and sections 304.010 to 304.040,304.120 to 304.260, RSMo, and sections 307.010 to 307.175, RSMo, thefollowing terms mean:
(1) "All-terrain vehicle", any motorized vehicle manufactured andused exclusively for off-highway use which is fifty inches or less inwidth, with an unladen dry weight of one thousand five hundred pounds orless, traveling on three, four or more nonhighway tires, with a seatdesigned to be straddled by the operator, or with a seat designed to carrymore than one person, and handlebars for steering control;
(2) "Automobile transporter", any vehicle combination designed andused specifically for the transport of assembled motor vehicles;
(3) "Axle load", the total load transmitted to the road by all wheelswhose centers are included between two parallel transverse vertical planesforty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle;
(4) "Boat transporter", any vehicle combination designed and usedspecifically to transport assembled boats and boat hulls;
(5) "Body shop", a business that repairs physical damage on motorvehicles that are not owned by the shop or its officers or employees bymending, straightening, replacing body parts, or painting;
(6) "Bus", a motor vehicle primarily for the transportation of adriver and eight or more passengers but not including shuttle buses;
(7) "Commercial motor vehicle", a motor vehicle designed or regularlyused for carrying freight and merchandise, or more than eight passengersbut not including vanpools or shuttle buses;
(8) "Cotton trailer", a trailer designed and used exclusively fortransporting cotton at speeds less than forty miles per hour from field tofield or from field to market and return;
(9) "Dealer", any person, firm, corporation, association, agent orsubagent engaged in the sale or exchange of new, used or reconstructedmotor vehicles or trailers;
(10) "Director" or "director of revenue", the director of thedepartment of revenue;
(11) "Driveaway operation":
(a) The movement of a motor vehicle or trailer by any person or motorcarrier other than a dealer over any public highway, under its own powersingly, or in a fixed combination of two or more vehicles, for the purposeof delivery for sale or for delivery either before or after sale;
(b) The movement of any vehicle or vehicles, not owned by thetransporter, constituting the commodity being transported, by a personengaged in the business of furnishing drivers and operators for the purposeof transporting vehicles in transit from one place to another by thedriveaway or towaway methods; or
(c) The movement of a motor vehicle by any person who is lawfullyengaged in the business of transporting or delivering vehicles that are notthe person's own and vehicles of a type otherwise required to beregistered, by the driveaway or towaway methods, from a point ofmanufacture, assembly or distribution or from the owner of the vehicles toa dealer or sales agent of a manufacturer or to any consignee designated bythe shipper or consignor;
(12) "Dromedary", a box, deck, or plate mounted behind the cab andforward of the fifth wheel on the frame of the power unit of a trucktractor-semitrailer combination. A truck tractor equipped with a dromedarymay carry part of a load when operating independently or in a combinationwith a semitrailer;
(13) "Farm tractor", a tractor used exclusively for agriculturalpurposes;
(14) "Fleet", any group of ten or more motor vehicles owned by thesame owner;
(15) "Fleet vehicle", a motor vehicle which is included as part of afleet;
(16) "Fullmount", a vehicle mounted completely on the frame of eitherthe first or last vehicle in a saddlemount combination;
(17) "Gross weight", the weight of vehicle and/or vehicle combinationwithout load, plus the weight of any load thereon;
(18) "Hail-damaged vehicle", any vehicle, the body of which hasbecome dented as the result of the impact of hail;
(19) "Highway", any public thoroughfare for vehicles, including stateroads, county roads and public streets, avenues, boulevards, parkways oralleys in any municipality;
(20) "Improved highway", a highway which has been paved with gravel,macadam, concrete, brick or asphalt, or surfaced in such a manner that itshall have a hard, smooth surface;
(21) "Intersecting highway", any highway which joins another, whetheror not it crosses the same;
(22) "Junk vehicle", a vehicle which is incapable of operation or useupon the highways and has no resale value except as a source of parts orscrap, and shall not be titled or registered;
(23) "Kit vehicle", a motor vehicle assembled by a person other thana generally recognized manufacturer of motor vehicles by the use of aglider kit or replica purchased from an authorized manufacturer andaccompanied by a manufacturer's statement of origin;
(24) "Land improvement contractors' commercial motor vehicle", anynot-for-hire commercial motor vehicle the operation of which is confinedto:
(a) An area that extends not more than a radius of one hundred milesfrom its home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery,equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects involving soil andwater conservation, or to and from equipment dealers' maintenancefacilities for maintenance purposes; or
(b) An area that extends not more than a radius of fifty miles fromits home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery,equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects not involving soil andwater conservation.
Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent any motor vehiclefrom being registered as a commercial motor vehicle or local commercialmotor vehicle;
(25) "Local commercial motor vehicle", a commercial motor vehiclewhose operations are confined solely to a municipality and that areaextending not more than fifty miles therefrom, or a commercial motorvehicle whose property-carrying operations are confined solely to thetransportation of property owned by any person who is the owner or operatorof such vehicle to or from a farm owned by such person or under theperson's control by virtue of a landlord and tenant lease; provided thatany such property transported to any such farm is for use in the operationof such farm;
(26) "Local log truck", a commercial motor vehicle which isregistered pursuant to this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on thepublic highways of this state, used exclusively in this state, used totransport harvested forest products, operated solely at a forested site andin an area extending not more than a one hundred-mile radius from suchsite, carries a load with dimensions not in excess of twenty-five cubicyards per two axles with dual wheels, and when operated on the nationalsystem of interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, Section103(e) of the United States Code, such vehicle shall not exceed the weightlimits of section 304.180, RSMo, does not have more than four axles, anddoes not pull a trailer which has more than two axles. Harvestingequipment which is used specifically for cutting, felling, trimming,delimbing, debarking, chipping, skidding, loading, unloading, and stackingmay be transported on a local log truck. A local log truck may not exceedthe limits required by law, however, if the truck does exceed such limitsas determined by the inspecting officer, then notwithstanding any otherprovisions of law to the contrary, such truck shall be subject to theweight limits required by such sections as licensed for eighty thousandpounds;
(27) "Local log truck tractor", a commercial motor vehicle which isregistered under this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the publichighways of this state, used exclusively in this state, used to transportharvested forest products, operated solely at a forested site and in anarea extending not more than a one hundred-mile radius from such site,operates with a weight not exceeding twenty-two thousand four hundredpounds on one axle or with a weight not exceeding forty-four thousand eighthundred pounds on any tandem axle, and when operated on the national systemof interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, Section 103(e) ofthe United States Code, such vehicle does not exceed the weight limitscontained in section 304.180, RSMo, and does not have more than three axlesand does not pull a trailer which has more than two axles. Violations ofaxle weight limitations shall be subject to the load limit penalty asdescribed for in sections 304.180 to 304.220, RSMo;
(28) "Local transit bus", a bus whose operations are confined whollywithin a municipal corporation, or wholly within a municipal corporationand a commercial zone, as defined in section 390.020, RSMo, adjacentthereto, forming a part of a public transportation system within suchmunicipal corporation and such municipal corporation and adjacentcommercial zone;
(29) "Log truck", a vehicle which is not a local log truck or locallog truck tractor and is used exclusively to transport harvested forestproducts to and from forested sites which is registered pursuant to thischapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this statefor the transportation of harvested forest products;
(30) "Major component parts", the rear clip, cowl, frame, body, cab,front-end assembly, and front clip, as those terms are defined by thedirector of revenue pursuant to rules and regulations or by illustrations;
(31) "Manufacturer", any person, firm, corporation or associationengaged in the business of manufacturing or assembling motor vehicles,trailers or vessels for sale;
(32) "Mobile scrap processor", a business located in Missouri or anyother state that comes onto a salvage site and crushes motor vehicles andparts for transportation to a shredder or scrap metal operator forrecycling;
(33) "Motor change vehicle", a vehicle manufactured prior to August,1957, which receives a new, rebuilt or used engine, and which used thenumber stamped on the original engine as the vehicle identification number;
(34) "Motor vehicle", any self-propelled vehicle not operatedexclusively upon tracks, except farm tractors;
(35) "Motor vehicle primarily for business use", any vehicle otherthan a recreational motor vehicle, motorcycle, motortricycle, or anycommercial motor vehicle licensed for over twelve thousand pounds:
(a) Offered for hire or lease; or
(b) The owner of which also owns ten or more such motor vehicles;
(36) "Motorcycle", a motor vehicle operated on two wheels;
(37) "Motorized bicycle", any two-wheeled or three-wheeled devicehaving an automatic transmission and a motor with a cylinder capacity ofnot more than fifty cubic centimeters, which produces less than three grossbrake horsepower, and is capable of propelling the device at a maximumspeed of not more than thirty miles per hour on level ground;
(38) "Motortricycle", a motor vehicle operated on three wheels,including a motorcycle while operated with any conveyance, temporary orotherwise, requiring the use of a third wheel. A motortricycle shall notbe included in the definition of all-terrain vehicle;
(39) "Municipality", any city, town or village, whether incorporatedor not;
(40) "Nonresident", a resident of a state or country other than thestate of Missouri;
(41) "Non-USA-std motor vehicle", a motor vehicle not originallymanufactured in compliance with United States emissions or safetystandards;
(42) "Operator", any person who operates or drives a motor vehicle;
(43) "Owner", any person, firm, corporation or association, who holdsthe legal title to a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of anagreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right ofpurchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement andwith an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee orlessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession,then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed theowner for the purpose of this law;
(44) "Public garage", a place of business where motor vehicles arehoused, stored, repaired, reconstructed or repainted for persons other thanthe owners or operators of such place of business;
(45) "Rebuilder", a business that repairs or rebuilds motor vehiclesowned by the rebuilder, but does not include certificated common orcontract carriers of persons or property;
(46) "Reconstructed motor vehicle", a vehicle that is altered fromits original construction by the addition or substitution of two or morenew or used major component parts, excluding motor vehicles made from allnew parts, and new multistage manufactured vehicles;
(47) "Recreational motor vehicle", any motor vehicle designed,constructed or substantially modified so that it may be used and is usedfor the purposes of temporary housing quarters, including therein sleepingand eating facilities which are either permanently attached to the motorvehicle or attached to a unit which is securely attached to the motorvehicle. Nothing herein shall prevent any motor vehicle from beingregistered as a commercial motor vehicle if the motor vehicle couldotherwise be so registered;
(48) "Recreational off-highway vehicle", any motorized vehiclemanufactured and used exclusively for off-highway use which is sixty inchesor less in width, with an unladen dry weight of one thousand eight hundredfifty pounds or less, traveling on four or more nonhighway tires, with anonstraddle seat, and steering wheel, which may have access to ATV trails;
(49) "Rollback or car carrier", any vehicle specifically designed totransport wrecked, disabled or otherwise inoperable vehicles, when thetransportation is directly connected to a wrecker or towing service;
(50) "Saddlemount combination", a combination of vehicles in which atruck or truck tractor tows one or more trucks or truck tractors, eachconnected by a saddle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in frontof it. The "saddle" is a mechanism that connects the front axle of thetowed vehicle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in front andfunctions like a fifth wheel kingpin connection. When two vehicles aretowed in this manner the combination is called a "double saddlemountcombination". When three vehicles are towed in this manner, thecombination is called a "triple saddlemount combination";
(51) "Salvage dealer and dismantler", a business that dismantles usedmotor vehicles for the sale of the parts thereof, and buys and sells usedmotor vehicle parts and accessories;
(52) "Salvage vehicle", a motor vehicle, semitrailer, or housetrailer which:
(a) Was damaged during a year that is no more than six years afterthe manufacturer's model year designation for such vehicle to the extentthat the total cost of repairs to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle to itscondition immediately before it was damaged for legal operation on theroads or highways exceeds eighty percent of the fair market value of thevehicle immediately preceding the time it was damaged;
(b) By reason of condition or circumstance, has been declaredsalvage, either by its owner, or by a person, firm, corporation, or otherlegal entity exercising the right of security interest in it;
(c) Has been declared salvage by an insurance company as a result ofsettlement of a claim;
(d) Ownership of which is evidenced by a salvage title; or
(e) Is abandoned property which is titled pursuant to section304.155, RSMo, or section 304.157, RSMo, and designated with the words"salvage/abandoned property".
The total cost of repairs to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle shall notinclude the cost of repairing, replacing, or reinstalling inflatable safetyrestraints, tires, sound systems, or damage as a result of hail, or anysales tax on parts or materials to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle. Forpurposes of this definition, "fair market value" means the retail value ofa motor vehicle as:
a. Set forth in a current edition of any nationally recognizedcompilation of retail values, including automated databases, or frompublications commonly used by the automotive and insurance industries toestablish the values of motor vehicles;
b. Determined pursuant to a market survey of comparable vehicles withregard to condition and equipment; and
c. Determined by an insurance company using any other procedurerecognized by the insurance industry, including market surveys, that isapplied by the company in a uniform manner;
(53) "School bus", any motor vehicle used solely to transportstudents to or from school or to transport students to or from any placefor educational purposes;
(54) "Shuttle bus", a motor vehicle used or maintained by any person,firm, or corporation as an incidental service to transport patrons orcustomers of the regular business of such person, firm, or corporation toand from the place of business of the person, firm, or corporationproviding the service at no fee or charge. Shuttle buses shall not beregistered as buses or as commercial motor vehicles;
(55) "Special mobile equipment", every self-propelled vehicle notdesigned or used primarily for the transportation of persons or propertyand incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including farmequipment, implements of husbandry, road construction or maintenancemachinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air compressors, powershovels, cranes, graders, rollers, well-drillers and wood-sawing equipmentused for hire, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders,ditchers, leveling graders, finished machines, motor graders, road rollers,scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, concrete pumptrucks, rock-drilling and earth-moving equipment. This enumeration shallbe deemed partial and shall not operate to exclude other such vehicleswhich are within the general terms of this section;
(56) "Specially constructed motor vehicle", a motor vehicle whichshall not have been originally constructed under a distinctive name, make,model or type by a manufacturer of motor vehicles. The term speciallyconstructed motor vehicle includes kit vehicles;
(57) "Stinger-steered combination", a truck tractor-semitrailerwherein the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and belowthe rearmost axle of the power unit;
(58) "Tandem axle", a group of two or more axles, arranged one behindanother, the distance between the extremes of which is more than fortyinches and not more than ninety-six inches apart;
(59) "Tractor", "truck tractor" or "truck-tractor", a self-propelledmotor vehicle designed for drawing other vehicles, but not for the carriageof any load when operating independently. When attached to a semitrailer,it supports a part of the weight thereof;
(60) "Trailer", any vehicle without motive power designed forcarrying property or passengers on its own structure and for being drawn bya self-propelled vehicle, except those running exclusively on tracks,including a semitrailer or vehicle of the trailer type so designed and usedin conjunction with a self-propelled vehicle that a considerable part ofits own weight rests upon and is carried by the towing vehicle. The term"trailer" shall not include cotton trailers as defined in subdivision (8)of this section and shall not include manufactured homes as defined insection 700.010, RSMo;
(61) "Truck", a motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained for thetransportation of property;
(62) "Truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer", a combination vehiclein which the two trailing units are connected with a B-train assembly whichis a rigid frame extension attached to the rear frame of a firstsemitrailer which allows for a fifth-wheel connection point for the secondsemitrailer and has one less articulation point than the conventionalA-dolly connected truck-tractor semitrailer-trailer combination;
(63) "Truck-trailer boat transporter combination", a boat transportercombination consisting of a straight truck towing a trailer using typicallya ball and socket connection with the trailer axle located substantially atthe trailer center of gravity rather than the rear of the trailer but so asto maintain a downward force on the trailer tongue;
(64) "Used parts dealer", a business that buys and sells used motorvehicle parts or accessories, but not including a business that sells onlynew, remanufactured or rebuilt parts. "Business" does not include isolatedsales at a swap meet of less than three days;
(65) "Utility vehicle", any motorized vehicle manufactured and usedexclusively for off-highway use which is sixty-three inches or less inwidth, with an unladen dry weight of one thousand eight hundred fiftypounds or less, traveling on four or six wheels, to be used primarily forlandscaping, lawn care, or maintenance purposes;
(66) "Vanpool", any van or other motor vehicle used or maintained byany person, group, firm, corporation, association, city, county or stateagency, or any member thereof, for the transportation of not less thaneight nor more than forty-eight employees, per motor vehicle, to and fromtheir place of employment; however, a vanpool shall not be included in thedefinition of the term bus or commercial motor vehicle as defined bysubdivisions (6) and (7) of this section, nor shall a vanpool driver bedeemed a chauffeur as that term is defined by section 302.010, RSMo; norshall use of a vanpool vehicle for ride-sharing arrangements, recreational,personal, or maintenance uses constitute an unlicensed use of the motorvehicle, unless used for monetary profit other than for use in aride-sharing arrangement;
(67) "Vehicle", any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarilyfor use, or used, on highways, except motorized bicycles, vehiclespropelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusivelyon fixed rails or tracks, or cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairsoperated by handicapped persons;
(68) "Wrecker" or "tow truck", any emergency commercial vehicleequipped, designed and used to assist or render aid and transport or towdisabled or wrecked vehicles from a highway, road, street or highwayrights-of-way to a point of storage or repair, including towing areplacement vehicle to replace a disabled or wrecked vehicle;
(69) "Wrecker or towing service", the act of transporting, towing orrecovering with a wrecker, tow truck, rollback or car carrier any vehiclenot owned by the operator of the wrecker, tow truck, rollback or carcarrier for which the operator directly or indirectly receives compensationor other personal gain.
(RSMo 1939 § 8367, A.L. 1945 p. 1194, A. 1949 S.B. 1110, A.L. 1951 p. 695, A.L. 1969 H.B. 436, A.L. 1974 H.B. 883, A.L. 1979 H.B. 342, S.B. 108, A.L. 1980 H.B. 995 & 1051, A.L. 1983 H.B. 539, A.L. 1983 H.B. 149, et al., A.L. 1985 S.B. 209, S.B. 152, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1367 & 1573, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1067 & 1299 merged with H.B. 1153, A.L. 1987 S.B. 3, A.L. 1988 H.B. 990, H.B. 1581, A.L. 1989 H.B. 616, Revision, A.L. 1992 H.B. 1794, A.L. 1993 S.B. 105, A.L. 1995 S.B. 70, A.L. 1996 S.B. 560, A.L. 1997 H.B. 381, A.L. 1998 H.B. 1511, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1142 merged with H.B. 1948, A.L. 2004 H.B. 996 and H.B. 1142 and H.B. 1201 and H.B. 1489 merged with H.B. 1284 merged with S.B. 757 merged with S.B. 1233, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 487, A.L. 2007 S.B. 82, A.L. 2008 S.B. 930 & 947, A.L. 2009 H.B. 683)Prior revisions: 1929 §§ 7759, 7761; 1919 § 7551; 1909 § 8502