BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1174
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1174 (Walters) - As Amended: May 1, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 30-2
SUBJECT : Vehicle length exemption: motor sports
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)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
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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 : Unknown
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 roadway
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
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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 Caltrans or local authorities with regard to
highways in their jurisdiction, to issue a special permit for
motorsport vehicles with a truck tractor-semitrailer combination
with a KPRA of not more than 46 feet and a semitrailer length of
not more than 56 feet to travel on National Network and
Terminal Access routes in California, thereby increasing the
allowable trailer length by three feet while maintaining the
46-foot KPRA. The bill would also authorize Caltrans and local
jurisdictions when issuing permits for these longer
semitrailers, to establish reasonable controls on the allowable
hours of operation of the longer semitrailers.
According to the author, this bill is being introduced to
accommodate certain motorsport racing teams who use these longer
semitrailers to transport vehicles, equipment, and crews to
motorsport venues. According to the author, up until June 2005,
the operation of 56-foot motorsport rigs 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 and that this newly instituted
practice of ticking and impounding these longer trailers 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, truck tractor-semitrailer 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 in
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the California for many years without incident. The author
further contends that since these vehicles have the same KPRA as
those lawfully operated by motorsports combinations (46 KPRA),
the turning radius, of these longer vehicles be essentially the
same manner as those that are currently authorized.
Committee Amendments : It is unclear whether or not the extended
trailer length (56 feet) would affect maneuverability of these
longer semitrailers on the National Network and transition
routes events particularly given that the motortruck can have
extended cab lengths of up to 30 feet. To address this concern,
the committee recommends the following amendments:
1.That the exemption for 56 foot trailer lengths be allowed
until January 1, 2016;
2.During the time that the exemption is in place, Caltrans, in
consultation with CHP and the motorsports industry, will
conduct field tests on the longer motorsports motortruck
semitrailer combinations to evaluate whether or not these
longer vehicle combinations can safely maneuver both the
National Network and transition routes that these vehicles
must traverse to access approved motorsport venues. The
results the field test, along with a recommendation by
Caltrans, as to whether or not these 56-foot motorsport
trailers should continue to be authorized would be provided to
the Legislature on or before January 1, 2014.
3.The committee recommends that Caltrans, in consultation with
CHP, designate the specific National Network routes as well
transition routes that can be accessed by the longer (56-foot)
motorsport trailers rather than requiring that permits be
provided on a case by case basis.
Related Legislation:
AB 1696 (Cook) would have added three feet to the maximum
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
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a 27-10 vote, and failed passage in the Assembly Transportation
Committee.
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,
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
National Hot Rod Association (co-sponsor)
Western Motorsports (co-sponsor)
Professional Racers Owners Organization Inc. (co-sponsor)
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Alan Johnson Racing
Cruz Pedregon Racing
Don Schumacher Racing
T.W. Racing Inc.
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093