BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 3011
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: benoit
VERSION: 6/19/06
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 27, 2006
SUBJECT:
Commercial motor carriers
DESCRIPTION:
This bill conforms state regulation of intrastate and interstate
commercial trucks and buses (motor carriers) to the requirements
of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and
designates the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to enforce these
provisions in California.
ANALYSIS:
The federal government established the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration (FMCSA) as a separate entity within the
U.S. Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000 and has, as
its primary mission, the reduction of crashes, injuries, and
fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The FMCSA
administers several programs to achieve its mission, including
the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), a federal
grant program that provides states with financial assistance to
enforce federal motor carrier safety regulations. In 2002, FMCSA
adopted new regulations, Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (Title 49), and gave states three years to conform
to those regulations or risk loss of federal funds.
Because California has yet to conform to regulations that FMCSA
adopted in 2002, certain federal requirements for interstate
motor carriers are unenforceable in California. These
requirements include requiring financial responsibility and
operating authority for commercial vehicles entering California
from foreign jurisdictions, including from other states and from
Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
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In addition, FSMCA mandated in its regulations that all states
adopt federal load securement criteria for motor carriers
engaged in interstate commerce. If California fails to comply,
this could potentially result in the loss of MCSAP funds, which
directly support CHP's commercial vehicle enforcement program.
In addition to federal regulations, state law provides
additional regulation of motor carriers. Specifically, the
California Vehicle Code:
1) Makes it unlawful to fail to comply with a lawful
out-of-service order issued by a peace officer when the
officer is in uniform and performing his or her duties.
2) Prohibits a foreign motor carrier or foreign private
motor carrier from operating without a certificate of
registration in the vehicle, operating beyond the
limitations of the certificate, or refusing to show the
certificate upon request by a peace officer.
3) Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
suspend, cancel, or revoke the registration of a vehicle or
certificate of ownership, registration card, license plate,
or permit under specified circumstances.
4) Requires a driver and owner of a motor vehicle to be
able to establish financial responsibility.
5) Authorizes a peace officer to impound a vehicle and its
cargo under specified circumstances.
6) Requires CHP to regulate the safe operation of vehicles.
7) Requires certain vehicles to prominently display a
distinctive identifying symbol.
This bill conforms California law to the provisions of Title 49
of the Code of Federal Regulations (Title 49). Specifically, the
bill:
1)Makes it unlawful to fail or refuse to comply with an
out-of-service order issued by a an authorized CHP employee or
commercial vehicle inspector, of any state, any province of
Canada, or the federal government of the United States,
Canada, or Mexico, when that peace officer or commercial
AB 3011 (BENOIT) Page 3
vehicle inspector is in uniform and performing duties in
compliance with state or federal law.
2)Strikes all obsolete references to the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC) and replaces it with the United States
Department of Transportation (USDOT).
3)Prohibits a motor carrier, required to be registered with
USDOT pursuant to federal regulations, from providing
point-to-point transportation services for goods other than
international cargo; operating in this state without the
required registration or beyond the limitations or
restrictions specified in its registration; and from operating
without the required operating authority. Violation of these
provisions is subject to a $1,000 fine, and CHP may impound
the vehicle and its cargo until the fine is paid or the
citation is otherwise cleared.
4)Allows CHP to store or impound a vehicle and its cargo if the
registrant or driver of the vehicle has failed to pay
registration, regulatory, fuel permit, or other fees, or has
an outstanding warrant in a county in the state. Once the
owner of the vehicle pays impoundment charges, the vehicle
shall be released. The bill permits the driver or owner of the
vehicle to request a hearing to determine the validity of the
seizure.
5)Requires a motor carrier granted permanent operating authority
under Title 49 to be inspected every three months and to
display a decal attesting to successful completion of the
inspections for the first three years after receiving
permanent operating authority.
6)Allows Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend the
registration of all vehicles in the name of a person, under
any of the following circumstances:
a) When the Secretary of the USDOT, or his or her
designee issues a lawful out-of-service order pursuant to
Title 49;
b) When DMV suspends or revokes a motor carrier of
property permit; or
c) When the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
suspends or revokes operating authority or private
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registration.
The registration of a vehicle shall remain suspended until DMV
verifies a person's federal registration or operating
authority, California private registration or operating
authority, or motor carrier, or property permit is reissued.
7)Deletes use of the identifying number issued by the ICC as
proof of evidence of financial responsibility.
8)Prohibits entry of a vehicle into the state that is from
another country and does not have evidence of financial
responsibility as required by Title 49.
9)Adds farm labor vehicles to the list of vehicles that CHP must
regulate for safe operation.
10) States that DMV and USDOT, in addition to PUC, have
authority over all motor carriers not specified in statute for
matters relating to hours of service and logbooks of drivers.
11) Requires CHP to adopt rules and regulations to promote the
safe operation of vehicles, including standards for safely
securing cargo that are consistent with Title 49. The bill
deletes CHP authority to adopt such cargo rules under existing
law, but:
a) Exempts and specifies loading requirements for a
public utility company or a local public agency that
provides electrical or telephone service, or to the
Department of Transportation, when transporting poles;
and
b) Exempts farmers transporting his or her own hay upon
a highway if the load is secured in a safe manner and it
is incidental to his or her farming operation.
12) Requires vehicles engaged in intrastate commerce, rather
than just interstate commerce, to display an identification
number, as specified.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose . CHP is sponsoring this bill to bring California into
substantial compliance with FMCSA requirements that pertain to
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securing cargo, out-of-service orders issued to trucking
violators, registration, and financial responsibility. States
are required to conform to these federal requirements or risk
losing federal MCSAP funds. California's MCSAP allocation is
$22 million.
2)Amendments .
On page 8, line 1, of the bill delete "A driver and an
owner" and restore existing law, which reads "Every driver
and every owner." This provision of law requires all owners
and all drivers of motor vehicles to be able to at all times
have insurance. While the wording changes are minor and were
inserted by Legislative Counsel as clean up, the staff to the
Senate Insurance Committee expresses concern that they may
have unintended consequences. For this reason, the author or
committee may wish to restore existing law.
The author has technical amendments to Section 2 of the
bill to clarify that the prohibition on a motor carrier
providing point-to-point transportation services for goods
other than international cargo does not apply to a motor
carrier granted authority to operate solely within a border
commercial zone.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 76 - 0
Appr: 17 - 0
Trans: 12 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 21, 2006)
SUPPORT: California Highway Patrol (sponsor)
California Farm Bureau Federation
City of Moreno Valley
Teamsters
OPPOSED: None received.