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special mobile equipment

Special mobile equipment is a statutory term used in more than half the states that is generally defined to be construction vehicles that are not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property but that are incidentally operated or moved over public roads.

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special mobile equipment

Special mobile equipment is a statutory term used in more than half the states that is generally defined to be construction vehicles that are not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property but that are incidentally operated or moved over public roads.

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Examples of special mobile equipment include asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving carryalls, scrapers, power shovels, self-propelled cranes, earth moving equipment, and the like. Pieces of equipment that qualify under a state statutory definition of "special mobile equipment" are exempt from that state's licensing, registration, and/or financial responsibility laws. However, state "special mobile equipment" provisions may contain a list of certain pieces of equipment that do not qualify, such as dump trucks, or truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes, or shovels. Each state's "special mobile equipment" definition must be examined closely to see what types of equipment qualify and what types do not. Any nonexempt equipment may remain subject to that state's licensing, registration, and/or financial responsibility laws.