BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1174
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1174 (Walters)
As Amended June 27, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :30-2
TRANSPORTATION 14-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| |Galgiani, Logue, Wagner, | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| |Norby, Portantino, | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| |Solorio | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : This bill permits extra-long semitrailers of up to 56
feet, if the semitrailer is used primarily in connection with
motorsports. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) and local authorities to permit a combination of
vehicles consisting of a truck tractor-semitrailer with a
length of not more than 56 feet as long as the vehicle
combination is used primarily in connection with motorsports.
2)Authorizes Caltrans, in consultation with the California
Highway Patrol (CHP), to designate specific routes where the
56 foot motorsport vehicle combinations can travel.
3)Requires Caltrans to conduct a field test of the 56 foot
motorsport vehicle combinations to evaluate their performance
on various segments of the National Network and transition
routes.
4)Requires that Caltrans, in consultation with CHP, submit the
results of the field test along with a recommendation on
whether or not the 56 foot motorsport vehicle combinations
should be reauthorized to the Legislature on or before January
1, 2014.
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5)Sunsets the 56 foot motorsport vehicle combination exemption
on January 1, 2016.
6)Makes related, clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, in accordance with federal law, that on the National
Network and Terminal Access Routes, a semitrailer being towed
by a motor truck or truck tractor may not exceed 53 feet long
provided the distance from the KPRA (kingpin to rear axle)
does not exceed 40 feet for semitrailers with 2 or more axles
or 38 feet for semitrailers with one axle.
2)Authorizes Caltrans and local authorities to permit the
operation of combination of vehicles consisting of a truck
tractor semitrailer combination with a KPRA of up to 46 feet
on trailers used exclusively or primarily in connection with
motorsports.
3)Specifies the Legislature's intent that by increasing the
maximum permissible KPRA up to 46 feet for motorsport trucks
does not demonstrate the Legislature's intent to set a
precedent for future increases in truck size and length
limitations.
4)Authorizes Caltrans and local jurisdictions, in consultation
with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), to establish shorter
KPRA distances than those authorized under existing law if it
is determined that public safety considerations preclude the
use of longer vehicles on portions of the state highway system
under their jurisdiction.
5)Authorizes a local authority to condition the issuance of a
special permits to establish reasonable controls on the
allowable hours of operation of over length vehicles.
6)Defines motorsports as any event, and all activities leading
up to that event, that is sanctioned under member
organizations of the Automobile Competition Committee for the
United States.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
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Committee, minor one-time costs, in the tens of thousands of
dollars, to Caltrans to conduct field tests.
COMMENTS : Most large trucks on the highway are truck
tractor-trailer combinations where the truck tractor is used to
pull 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 point where the semitrailer connects to the truck
tractor. The distance from the kingpin to the rearmost axle is
referred to as the KPRA and is what determines the width of the
turning radius of the tractor-trailer combination. Generally,
any increase in the wheelbase or KPRA results in more roadways
being needed to complete a turn. For example, a 40 foot KPRA
semitrailer will have a smaller turning radius than would a
semitrailer with a 46 foot KPRA.
In 1982, the federal government enacted the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) that, in part, required
states to establish a national truck network and allow certain
truck tractor and semitrailer combinations to utilize that
network. The STAA set the maximum trailer length of 53-feet for
a semitrailer with a KPRA limit of 40 feet.
In 1995 federal legislation (CFR parts 657-658) included a
provision prohibiting states from prescribing or enforcing
regulations imposing a limitation of less than 46 feet on the
KPRA distance on trailers used exclusively or primarily in
connection with motorsports. California followed suit by
enacting SB 1463 (Johannessen), Chapter 353, Statutes of 1996,
that provided a length exemption for trucks engaged in moving
people and equipment to and from motorsport events.
Specifically, that bill allowed authorized motorsport vehicles
to have a KPRA of 46 feet (6 feet more than is typically
allowed) as long as they adhered to the 53-foot maximum overall
trailer length. SB 1463 specifically declared the Legislature's
intent to conform state law to federal law with regard to
motorsport vehicle lengths and clearly stated that the bill was
not intended to set a precedent for future increases in the
length of vehicle combinations.
This bill would revise existing motorsport vehicle length
exceptions to allow motorsport vehicle combinations, with a KPRA
of not more than 46 feet and a semitrailer length of not more
SB 1174
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than 56, feet to travel on National Network and Terminal Access
routes in California, thereby increasing the allowable trailer
length by three feet. This bill would, until January 1, 2016,
authorize the use of the longer vehicle combinations for travel
to and from designated motorsports events on routes designated
by Caltrans. Prior to the sunset of the authorization, Caltrans
will conduct a field test of the longer vehicles to determine
whether or not they can safely maneuver on the designated
routes. The results of the field test along with a
recommendation on whether or not the exemption for these longer
vehicles should be continued will be provided to the Legislature
by Caltrans on or before January 1, 2014.
According to the author, this bill is being introduced to
accommodate certain motorsport racing teams who use 56 foot
semitrailers to transport vehicles, equipment, and crews to
motorsport venues. According to the author, up until June 2005,
the operation of 56-foot motorsport semitrailers in California
had not been a problem because CHP consistently withheld
enforcement; despite that the legal length limit for these
vehicles is 53 feet. The author states that because of an
ambiguity in state law and a misunderstanding of federal law,
CHP officers began ticketing and impounding vehicles with
trailers exceeding 53 feet in overall length in 2005. This
newly instituted practice caused racing teams using these longer
semitrailers to stop competing in motorsport events in
California, the impact of which is the loss of millions of
dollars in revenues that these teams bring to California each
year.
According to the author, there is no evidence that these larger,
56-foot, vehicle combinations cause a public safety concern over
the 53-foot semitrailers that are currently authorized to
operate in California. In fact, the author claims that the
56-foot motorsport semitrailers have been operating safely in
the California for many years without incident. The author
further contends that the turning radius of these longer (56
foot) trailers would be essentially the same as the 53 foot
trailers that are currently authorized because the KPRA would
remain unchanged.
Related legislation:
AB 1696 (Cook) would have added three feet to the maximum
SB 1174
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allowable length for motorsport truck trailers travelling en
route to qualifying motorsport venues. That bill was not heard
in committee.
SB 1155 (Cannella) would have created, until January 1, 2018, an
exemption from current vehicle length limits for motor
truck-trailer combinations used for transporting agricultural
products in San Benito County. That bill passed the Senate with
a 27-10 vote, and failed passage in the Assembly Transportation
Committee.
AB 1516 (Alejo) would have increased the weight of vehicles and
the combination of vehicles that can be operated by a farmer who
possesses only a Class C diver license. Prior versions of that
bill included length exemptions for combination vehicles up to
75 feet. That bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
SB 1228 (Maldonado), Chapter 394, Statutes of 2008, extended,
from January 1, 2009, to January 1, 2010, the sunset date on an
exemption from vehicle length limits for trailer combinations
used for transporting agricultural products.
SB 1237 (Maldonado), Chapter 450, Statutes of 2006, extended the
sunset of an exemption to the maximum length limitation of
longer combination vehicles and adds additional criteria and
safety measures under which the exemption is authorized.
AB 1742 (Maldonado), Chapter 560, Statutes of 2002, exempted
motor truck-trailer combinations from the state law that
restricts vehicle combinations to a maximum length of 65 feet in
length and allowed a 75-foot agricultural motor truck-trailer
combinations.
AB 220 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 413, Statutes of 2001, allowed
licensed carriers of livestock to continue to move their cargo
along specified limited-access portions of State Route 101.
SB 964 (Costa), Chapter 497, Statutes of 2001, authorized cotton
module movers to operate, unless specifically prohibited, on any
highway within the counties of Butte, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn,
Imperial, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Riverside, Sacramento,
San Benito, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter,
Tehama, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba between September 15 of each year
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and March 15 of the following year.
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093
FN: 0005022