A motor truck, tractor, trailer, or other vehicle, machine, or contrivance shall not be operated or moved upon any highway with a gross weight, including load and vehicle, greater than the total registered weight of the vehicle and the declared registered capacity thereof and a tolerance of five percent. In a prosecution for a violation of this section, the proper defendant shall be either the owner or lessee of the vehicle, machine, or contrivance or the person who operates the vehicle, machine, or contrivance. This section shall not apply to the operation of a motor truck, tractor, trailer, or other vehicle, machine, or contrivance while being operated strictly in compliance with and in conformity to the provisions of a permit so to do issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles as otherwise provided in this title. (Amended 1959, No. 97, eff. April 8, 1959; 1969, No. 212 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. March 25, 1970; 1971, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 1983, No. 86, § 4; 1995, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)