BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: SB 1174
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  walters
                                                         VERSION: 4/12/12
          Analysis by:  Carrie Cornwell                  FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  April 24, 2012                      REVISED






          SUBJECT:

          Vehicle length exemption: motor sports

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill permits extra-long semitrailers of up to 56 feet, if 
          the semitrailer is used primarily in connection with 
          motorsports. 

          ANALYSIS:

          Most large trucks on the highway are truck tractor-trailer 
          combinations.  Typically, a truck tractor pulls a semitrailer.  
          A semitrailer is a trailer that is constructed so that some part 
          of its weight and load rests upon or is carried by another 
          vehicle, usually a truck tractor.  A kingpin is the main pin 
          used to connect a semitrailer to a tractor truck.  The distance 
          from the kingpin to the rear axle, referred to as KP-RA length, 
          determines the width of the turning radius of the 
          tractor-trailer combination.  Generally, any increase in the 
          wheelbase of any vehicle in a combination of vehicles will 
          result in more roadway used to complete a turn.  

          On specified federal and state routes, existing law allows 
          semitrailers of up to 53 feet with a maximum KP-RA distance for 
          a semitrailer with 2 axels of not more than 40 feet, provided 
          the truck tractor is pulling only the semitrailer. 

          Existing state law also authorizes Caltrans or a local 
          authority, for highways under their respective jurisdictions, to 
          issue special permits authorizing vehicle combinations 
          consisting of a truck tractor-semitrailer with a KP-RA distance 
          of no more than 46 feet for vehicles used primarily in 
          connection with motorsports.  These semitrailers also may be up 




          SB 1174 (WALTERS)                                      Page 2

                                                                      


          to 53 feet in length, as existing law limits semitrailers in 
          California to a length of no more than 53 feet.

          Existing law defines motorsports to mean an event, and all 
          activities leading up to that event, that an organization of the 
          Automobile Competition Committee for the United States has 
          sanctioned.

           This bill  deletes the authorization for Caltrans or a local 
          authority to issue permits for over- length vehicles used 
          primarily in connection with motorsports.  Instead, the bill 
          explicitly permits semitrailers of up to 56 feet in length, if 
          the distance from the KP- RA is not more than 46 feet and the 
          semitrailer is used primarily in connection with motorsports. 

          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  The author states that even though motorsport 
            trailers meet both weight and kingpin to rear axle 
            requirements, their overall length of 56 feet is 3 feet longer 
            than state law allows.  When law enforcement measures and 
            impounds these 56-foot trailers, it costs racing teams tens of 
            thousands of dollars and gives them a disincentive to 
            participate at events held in California. 

            The author asserts that all other states offer these 
            motorsports trailers either an exemption or a permitting 
            process, or they simply withhold enforcement so the trailers 
            can operate within their jurisdictions.  Proponents contend 
            that California is the only state that intentionally fines and 
            impounds these trailers for being longer than the 53 feet and 
            state that failure to change the law could result in racing 
            organizations and teams pulling out of events in California to 
            avoid the risk of these costly regulations.  This would have a 
            negative impact on any potential economic recovery and would 
            also result in General Fund revenue reductions.

            The author introduced this bill to make these longer trailers 
            legal.

           2.Federal law  .  Federal law, the Surface Transportation 
            Assistance Act of 1982, governs semitrailer lengths in each 
            state, and regulations implementing that law read in part that 
            "no state shall prohibit the use of ? semitrailers of such 
            dimensions as those that were in actual and lawful use in such 




          SB 1174 (WALTERS)                                      Page 3

                                                                       


            State on December 1, 1982 ..."   An appendix to the 
            regulations show the "grandfathered" semitrailer length limits 
            for each state, including 53 feet for California.  Other state 
            limits range from 48 feet in 25 states to 59 feet 6 inches in 
            Oklahoma and Louisiana. 

            Until very recently, Caltrans' representatives understood the 
            federal law to pre-empt a change to state law to go beyond the 
            53-foot limit on semitrailers.  Caltrans now understands that 
            federal law pre-empts California from enacting a semitrailer 
            length limit of less than 48 feet.

            The proponents of this bill, with supporting informal 
            communication from the U.S. Department of Transportation, also 
            assert that federal law allows states to set longer 
            semitrailer length limits but not to go shorter.  CHP does not 
            concur and maintains that federal law would pre-empt 
            California from implementing a longer semitrailer length 
            limit. Further clarification from the federal government is 
            needed to know whether this bill is pre-empted or not by 
            federal law.

           3.It all depends on the curves  .  Most state highway curves, 
            including freeway on and off ramps, have a radius sufficient 
            to accommodate a 46-foot KP-RA distance and a 56-foot 
            semitrailer.  Local roads may not.  Where roads cannot 
            accommodate these lengths, longer vehicles cross into oncoming 
            traffic, creating a great risk of accident.  Requiring that 
            Caltrans and local road authorities issue permits to these 
            vehicles, as existing law does for longer motorsport trailers, 
            ensures that they do not travel on roads with curves that they 
            cannot navigate.  This bill both deletes the permit 
            requirement and authorizes the longer semitrailers.  The 
            committee may wish to consider an amendment to keep the 
            requirement that these longer vehicles get a permit from 
            Caltrans or a local road authority before traveling on roads 
            under their respective jurisdictions.
          
           4.CHP enforcement history  .  Before 2005, law enforcement and CHP 
            did not consistently enforce the 53-foot limit on semitrailers 
            related to motorsports.  After further review commenced under 
            a new commissioner, CHP officers began ticketing and 
            impounding vehicles with semitrailers exceeding the 53 foot 
            length limit and have done so since 2005. 

           5.Arguments in opposition  .   Writing in opposition, the 




          SB 1174 (WALTERS)                                      Page 4

                                                                       


            Teamsters and Amalgamated Transit Union both assert that they 
            are opposed to allowing over-length vehicles on California's 
            highways because such vehicles are dangerous to other 
            motorists.  In addition, opponents note that if this bill were 
            enacted, it could result in the federal government withholding 
            highway funding from California.
          
          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on 
          Wednesday,                                             April 18, 
          2012)

               SUPPORT:  National Hot Rod Association (sponsor)
                         Cruz Pedregon Racing
          
               OPPOSED:  Amalgamated Transit Union
                         Teamsters