BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 306|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 306
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: 5/29/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/11/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/25/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Vehicles: motor carrier
SOURCE : California Tow Truck Association
DIGEST : This bill requires that before a tow truck operator
tows a vehicle to or from anothers towers impound yard the
impound yard operator must ensure the tow truck operator has a
valid motor carrier permit.
ANALYSIS : Motor carriers of property are businesses that
transport property, other than household goods, for hire. They
include many types of trucking companies, including tow truck
providers.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California
Highway Patrol (CHP) regulate motor carriers that operate within
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California, and existing law requires that a motor carrier have
a valid motor carrier of property permit to operate in this
state.
DMV issues motor carrier permits subject to the motor carrier
paying the required fee, providing proof of financial
responsibility (e.g., liability insurance), certifying that it
has workers' compensation coverage for its employees, securing a
CHP inspection (when required), and obtaining a carrier
identification number from CHP. A motor carrier must renew this
permit every year.
A person, including another motor carrier, may not engage the
services of a motor carrier of property, unless that motor
carrier holds a valid permit. In instances in which a motor
carrier enlists the service of another motor carrier, the
contracted motor carrier must certify in the manner prescribed
by CHP that it possesses a permit to operate and must
immediately notify the contracting motor carrier to whom it is
contracted if DMV suspends or revokes the permit.
This bill:
1. Requires that when a tow truck operator retrieves a vehicle
from another motor carrier's impound yard (or other
premises), the retrieving motor carrier must provide a copy
of its motor carrier permit to the releasing motor carrier.
2. Prohibits a motor carrier from allowing a tow truck to pick
up a vehicle from its impound yard (or other property),
unless that tow truck operator provides a copy of its motor
carrier permit. The motor carrier releasing the vehicle must
keep that copy on file for two years and present it when
requested by the CHP.
3. Exempts tow trucks operators that are licensed to repossess
vehicles from its provisions.
Comments
The author introduced this bill at the request of the California
Tow Truck Association, which reports that some tow truck
operators are operating without a valid motor carrier permit and
are able to do so because existing law includes no explicit
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requirement that they show proof of having a valid permit before
towing vehicles. As a result, some unscrupulous tow operators
operate without a permit and without adequate insurance, placing
motorists at risk and undercutting their competition.
Typically, tow services are provided under contract with an auto
club, the California Highway Patrol, a local parking control
agency, or some other authority. Those contracting for these
services ensure that the company operating the tow trucks has a
valid motor carrier permit. Once a vehicle is in an impound
lot, an insurance company or the registered owner may want the
vehicle moved. In these cases, the storage yard may hire a
low-cost tow operator to retrieve the vehicle in an effort to
save money. Sometimes these "cut rate" tow operators work
cheaply because they are not operating with a valid motor
carrier permit.
The proponents believe that requiring tow operators to show
proof of a valid motor carrier permit when moving a vehicle to
or from an impound yard will result in improved compliance with
the motor carrier permit program and thus increase safety on
California's roadways.
Previous Legislation
AB 1683 (Katz, Chapter 1042, Statutes of 1996) created the Motor
Carrier Safety Improvement Act to ensure that commercial motor
carriers meet all of the statutory requirements to safely
operate on California's highways. This law prohibits a motor
carrier from subcontracting with or engaging the services of
another motor carrier unless the contracted motor carrier
provides certification of compliance with existing law and
regulations, including the requirement to hold a valid motor
carrier permit. Additionally, a contracted motor carrier is
required to provide notification to the person with whom they
are under contract if DMV suspends or revokes its motor carrier
permit.
AB 145 (De Leon, Chapter 429, Statutes of 2010) addressed a
loophole in the law that allowed motor carriers to engage the
services of other motor carriers who may not have valid motor
carrier permits. AB 145 closed this loophole by clarifying that
construction trucking brokers (who in some cases may not
themselves be motor carriers) are also required to ensure that
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any trucking companies they contract with possess valid motor
carrier permits. AB 145, however, did not explicitly address
tow operators that deliver and retrieve vehicles.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/25/13)
California Tow Truck Association (source)
Official Police Garages Association of Los Angeles
Personal Insurance Federation
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/25/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Lowenthal, Nazarian, Vacancy
JJA:d 6/25/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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