BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1155
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1155 (Cannella) - As Introduced: February 21, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 27-10
SUBJECT : Agricultural motor truck-trailer length exemption in
San Benito County
SUMMARY : Creates an exemption, until January 1, 2018, from the
current vehicle length limit for motor truck-trailer
combinations used to transport agricultural products in San
Benito County. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides an exemption, until January 1, 2018, for motor
truck-trailer combinations up to 75 feet long under the
following conditions:
a) The combination of vehicles consists of a motor truck
and two trailers;
b) A trailer in the combination does not exceed 28 feet 6
inches in length;
c) The combination is used exclusively for transporting
agricultural products from the field to first point of
handling and return and each direction of transport does
not exceed 80 miles;
d) The combination is used exclusively to transport
agricultural products from the first point of handling to a
designated truck route and return and each direction of
transport does not exceed 15 miles;
e) The combination is not operated on a highway designated
by the United States Department of Transportation as a
national network route;
f) The combination of vehicles does not exceed a speed of
50 miles per hour (mph) when operating on highways;
g) The combination of vehicles successfully completes a
commercial safety inspection conducted by the California
SB 1155
Page 2
Highway Patrol (CHP) on a quarterly basis;
h) The combination of vehicles operates on highways only
after safe routing techniques are developed by agricultural
entities in consultation with CHP; and,
i) The combination of vehicles is operated only in the
County of San Benito after the San Benito County Board of
Supervisors adopts a resolution or ordinance authorizing
use of the longer vehicle combinations on local roadways.
2)Requires CHP, in consultation with the California Department
of Transportation (Caltrans), to study the effects of the
length exemption on public safety and submit findings to the
Legislature and the Governor on or before April 1, 2014.
3)Includes an urgency clause.
4)Makes related, clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Generally prohibits any combination of vehicles coupled
together, including attachments, from exceeding a total length
of 65 feet.
2)Provides an exception that allows truck tractor-trailer
combinations lengths up to 75 feet provided that the trailer
does not exceed 28 feet 6 inches long.
3)Authorizes a tow truck to exceed the 65 foot length
restriction under certain conditions.
4)Authorizes a city or county to prohibit combination vehicles
in excess of 60 feet on highways under its respective
jurisdiction as long as appropriate signage is erected.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in annual costs of
approximately $59,000 until 2018 for CHP to conduct quarterly
vehicle inspections as well as a one-time cost of $70,000 for
CHP to compile data and prepare the required report.
COMMENTS : The sponsor of this bill, the Council of San Benito
County Governments (CSBCG), asserts that farmers in San Benito
SB 1155
Page 3
County are experiencing difficulties transporting agricultural
products from the point of harvest to processing and
distribution centers using legal length (up to 65 feet) motor
truck-trailer combinations. CSBCG notes that historically
farmers have contracted with trucking companies to move
agricultural products. The farmers claim that the trucking
companies typically used motor truck-trailer combinations that
exceeded the legal length requirements but now that CHP is
actively ticketing these longer vehicle combinations, the
trucking companies are no longer willing to send out these
over-length trucks. The sponsor contends that since legal
length motor truck-trailer combinations are not always
available, the timely movement of perishable agricultural
products from the field to point of handling has been adversely
affected.
To address this problem, the author has introduced this bill
which would allow motor truck-trailer combinations up to 75 feet
long to travel on San Benito County roadways, over a 6 year
pilot period, as long as the vehicle combinations are being used
to transport agricultural products and meet other specified
restrictions. Additionally, the bill calls for CHP, in
consultation with Caltrans, to study the effects of the use of
these longer combination vehicles on public safety and report
its findings to the Legislature.
It is important to note, however, that the CHP's report is due
on April 1, 2014, over three years before the pilot period ends
and would only provide one year of data collection. To produce
a meaningful study, a minimum of three years of data is
typically collected to ensure an adequate data sample.
Additionally, reports are normally provided to the Legislature
about one year before the sunset date, giving the Legislature
ample time to review the data and take steps to extend the
sunset or make the provision permanent prior the expiration
date.
Over the years, segments of the agricultural industry have
relied on the combination of a motor truck and pull trailers to
transport their products from the field to point of handling. A
motor truck is a vehicle that is designed and used primarily for
transporting goods in the rear cargo area. Motor trucks are not
specifically designed to pull trailers because these vehicles
have no special coupling devices to prevent rollovers when a
trailer's load shifts. Additionally, these vehicles typically
SB 1155
Page 4
do not have the additional acceleration power needed to pull
heavy loads. For these reasons, motor truck-trailer
combinations lengths have been historically limited to 65 feet.
A truck tractor (or "big rig") on the other hand, is designed
and used primarily for pulling trailers. Truck tractors have
various safety features, such as specific coupling devices or
"fifth wheels," that enable them to pull trailers with minimal
risk of rolling over. For example, truck tractors typically
steady the weight of the trailer's load over the vehicle's wheel
base, providing more stability for both the vehicle and the
trailer.
Until the passage of AB 1742 (Maldonado), Chapter 560, Statutes
of 2002, a motor truck-trailer combination was not authorized to
exceed 65 feet. According to then-Assembly Member Maldonado,
prior to the passage of AB 1742, motor truck operators expressed
surprise when they received tickets for violating the 65-foot
length limitation, claiming to be unaware that the law did not
allow for these longer motor truck-trailer combinations on
highways. To bring these vehicle combinations into compliance,
AB 1742 was introduced to exempt motor truck-trailer
combinations from the state law that restricted vehicle
combinations to a maximum of 65 feet until January 1, 2006.
Specifically, AB 1742 required that the vehicle combinations
consist of a motor truck and two trailers; that no trailer in
the combination exceeds 28 feet 6 inches in length; that the
vehicle combination be used exclusively to transport
agricultural products from the field to the first point of
handling and return; that each direction of transport be
restricted 80 miles; and that the combination not be operated on
a highway that is designated as a national network route. AB
1742 also required CHP to study the effects of allowing these
longer vehicle combinations to operate on highways.
In April 2005, CHP issued the report, "Assembly Bill 1742, Motor
Truck Towing Two Trailers, Impact on Public Safety." The report
concluded that there were no collisions reported during the
testing period; however performance and engineering tests
completed by state and federal agencies showed that longer
combination vehicles such as those provided for in AB 1742 fail
to negotiate tight turns and maintain stability. In their
report, the CHP recommended allowing the exemption provided by
AB 1742 to expire on January 1, 2006 and not be renewed.
SB 1155
Page 5
In 2006, SB 283 (Maldonado), Chapter 5, Statutes of 2006,
granted a one-year extension to the exemption provided by AB
1742 thereby continuing the use of 75-foot motor truck-trailer
combinations on the state highways until January 1, 2007. The
author indicated that at that time the bill was moving through
the Legislature an extension was needed so that there was time
to get the word out to the industry regarding the expiration of
the statute authorizing the use of these longer vehicle
combinations and to allow time to further examine potential
safety concerns.
Senator Maldonado introduced legislation in 2006 to permanently
delete the sunset date for these longer vehicle combinations.
The Transportation and Housing Committee amended the bill to
delete the obsolete provision requiring CHP to complete its
April 2005 study--essentially gutting the bill and making it a
legislative vehicle meanwhile the author negotiated with CHP on
alternatives to the sunset provision. Later that year, CHP
agreed to an extension of the sunset provision until January 1,
2009, subject to additional restrictions that included the
preparation of another report by April 1, 2008. Provisions were
also added requiring that the vehicle combinations be inspected
by CHP, that they travel no faster than 50 mph, and that the
exemption be limited to jurisdictions in Santa Barbara and San
Luis Obispo counties if those counties adopted a local
resolution or ordinance authorizing the use of these vehicle
combinations. These negotiated provisions were placed in SB
1237 (Maldonado), Chapter 450, Statutes of 2006, and the bill
was signed into law.
The report prepared by the CHP in 2008 pursuant to SB 1237
concluded that of the four accidents that occurred during the
study period involving motor truck-trailer combinations, three
were caused by the exempted longer vehicle combinations. In
addition, the report noted that of the 865 inspections conducted
by CHP on the 200 vehicles studied, 866 violations were reported
including instances of inoperable lights, out-of-date vehicle
registrations, and inadequate vehicle couplings.
Writing in support of this bill, the California Farm Bureau
Federation notes that San Benito County is an important
agricultural production area that contributes more than $255
million to the state's economy. They note that allowing for the
use of these longer motor truck-trailer combinations would make
SB 1155
Page 6
it possible for farmers to get their highly perishable products
from field to processing centers in a timely manner.
Writing in opposition of this bill, the Teamsters and
Amalgamated Transit Union assert that increasing truck weights
and lengths could endanger the traveling public since larger
trucks are inherently more difficult to maneuver and stop. The
Teamsters have also raised the issue on similar legislation (AB
1516, Alejo of 2012) that agricultural trucking has one of the
worst safety records in the trucking industry and that allowing
these longer vehicles on roadways would subject the public to
increased risk of accidents.
Previous legislation :
AB 1516 (Alejo) of 2012, 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,
SB 1155
Page 7
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
and March 15 of the following year.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Council of San Benito County Governments (Sponsor)
California Farm Bureau Federation
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Western Growers
Opposition
Amalgamated Transit Union
Teamsters
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093