BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2023
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2023
(Gray) - As Introduced February 16, 2016
SUBJECT: Vehicles: length
SUMMARY: Extends the vehicle length limit for cotton module
movers by 5 feet, from 48 feet to 53 feet.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Generally prohibits any vehicle from exceeding a length of 40
feet.
2)Provides over a dozen exceptions to the vehicle length limit,
including an exception for motortrucks up to 48 feet in length
that are used solely as cotton module movers.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown, this bill was keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, the need to extend the
allowable vehicle length for cotton module movers is predicated
on changes in law and regulations promulgated by the Air
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Resources Board (ARB) over the past two decades that have
resulted in truck manufacturers having to redesign engine
compartments to meet clean air standards. The author asserts
that these changes effectively prohibit the "once popular
cab-over style tractor" and, as a result, require the tractor
used as the foundation of a cotton module mover to be longer
than allowed by law.
Vehicle length limits are necessary for safety reasons. The
longer the truck, the more room it needs to safely negotiate
turns. If the truck length exceeds the geometric design of a
road, it can lead to "off-tracking," whereby a portion of the
truck strays into the oncoming lane of traffic. The current
vehicle length limit is 40 feet. Some exceptions are provided
for, for example, buses with bicycle racks, motorhomes, or
fifth-wheel travel trailers. Cotton module movers are also
exempted from the 40-foot vehicle limit. In fact, aside from
articulated busses, cotton module movers enjoy the longest
exception (48 feet) currently allowed, 3 feet longer than the
next-longest vehicle and 8 feet longer than the general vehicle
length limit.
Committee comments and concerns: California's air quality
improvement and greenhouse gas emission reduction laws,
regulations, and policies have dramatically improved the
environment. They have also significantly influenced regulated
industries, driving to change business practices, equipment
technology, and processes to meet stringent new standards,
sometimes at great cost and financial loss to the industry.
The sponsor of AB 2023, the California Cotton Ginners and
Growers Association, suggests that California cotton farmers are
in a pickle-unable to procure a cotton module mover that meets
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California's ARB regulations and that is no longer than 48 feet.
They suggest that the state should offset the ramifications of
regulatory impacts by some other means, such as loosening
vehicle length limits, so that the industry can continue to be
viable even while conforming to environmental regulations.
According to an industry website, the conventional practice in
the United States is to form cotton modules at the edge of the
field using a module builder that creates 16-foot or
32-foot-long modules with a trapezoidal cross-section. These
modules are typically moved one at a time with the use of
self-loading trucks especially designed for this single purpose.
An emerging trend in the cotton industry is to create round
modules that are fully enclosed on the circumference by a
specially engineered polyethylene film that protects the cotton
while also providing a compressive force to maintain the module
density. One of the many benefits of this approach is that the
rolls can be transported on multi-purpose, flat-bed trucks.
Industry data indicate 8 rolls of cotton can be transported on a
53-foot long truck. Four rolls weigh about as much as one
traditional 32-foot long module. Therefore, a truck with 8
rolls can haul about twice as much as one conventional cotton
module mover. According to at least one truck manufacturer, the
industry is moving to larger trucks, not as a result of ARB
regulations but because customers are seeking heavier, more
powerful trucks, presumably to transport the heavier weight
associated with the cotton rolls.
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Whether or not vehicle length limits need to change as a direct
result of ARB regulations or because of advancing technologies,
if the cotton industry can move twice as much product in half as
many trips and do it safely, it would behoove the state to take
a serious look at accommodating the change. However, the state
should not unduly jeopardize the safety of the highways or the
integrity of the pavement. Extending the length of cotton
module movers by three feet, will, in fact, affect the turning
radius of these vehicles and lead to greater off-tracking,
particularly on narrow conventional highways. These safety
implications should be thoroughly vetted before extra vehicle
lengths are allowed.
Author's proposed amendment: The author proposes to take an
amendment in committee to reduce from 53 feet to 51 feet the
proposed vehicle length limit for cotton module movers.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association
Opposition
Sierra Club
AB 2023
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Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093