AB463 –Governor signs HMTL Transportation Legislation on August 5th
AB463 was introduced by Assemblyman Tran and sponsored by Southern California Contractors Association (SCCA).
This came up when a member failed to renew his HMTL on time, 10 days late when he attempted to renew it and was told by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) their HMTL license would not be re-issued for a period of three years from their last “unsatisfactory” rating—a three year sentence.
We just have a hard time believing that this was the legislative intent, when CVC 32000.5 Section (3) reads:
It is the intent of the Legislature that a carrier’s license to transport hazardous materials should not be unreasonably hindered as a result of the department’s verification and issuance process.
We had been working with the author of the bill; Assembly Pedro Nava, whose staff referred us to Janet Dawson Chief Consultant Assembly Transportation Committee, who worked with CHP on the original bill. After much discussion, we all came to the conclusion this must be a misunderstanding.
It was agreed that we need to clarify the language through legislation and so as to not put any unnecessary hardship on any other contractors that operate their own service / fuel trucks.
Assemblyman Tran introduced AB463 and was recently signed by the Governor on August 5th and will become law January 1, 2010. The new language should make it very clear that because you have an unsatisfactory rating, which could be for not having all your paperwork in order during your BIT Inspection, that once you bring your company back into good standings, an HMTL can be issued.
CVC 32000.5 (f) This section does not prevent the department from issuing a new or initial license to transport hazardous materials to a motor carrier that applies for a license to transport hazardous materials and that, within the previous three years, has been issued an unsatisfactory rating as a result of an inspection conducted pursuant to Section 34501, 34501.12, or 34520, if the motor carrier has corrected the unsatisfactory rating before applying for the license to transport hazardous materials.
We want to thank Assemblyman Tran, who introduced AB463, SCCA who was the sponsor and we appreciate the assistance of Assemblyman Pedro Nava’s Office and Janet Dawson Chief Consultant Assembly Transportation Committee, without their continued support we wouldn’t have accomplish our goal.
Caltrans
1. Caltrans Transportation Permit Advisory Council (CTPAC) Meeting
You are invited to participate in our CTPAC Workgroups meetings in the morning starting at 9:00 am, follow by the Steering Committee Meeting at 12:00 to 2:00 pm. at Caltrans District 8 Office in
The purpose of the Caltrans Transporter Permit Advisory Council (CTPAC) is to provide a forum for government and industry viewpoints on state transportation permitting policies and procedures. Both Caltrans and industry believe that this is an effective way of understanding and improving the permit process. CTPAC representatives use council and steering committee meetings to update their members on changes and help resolve permit related issues. If you would like to attend, please let me know.
Meeting Location
CALTRANS/ DISTRICT 8 OFFICE
NOTE: Free Parking is available.
Workgroup meetings start at 9:00 am and continue throughout the morning, with the Steering Committee meeting from Noon to 2:00 pm. You are encouraged to attend.
2. Crane workgroup recently proposed to allow 60,000 lbs Tridem for Cranes
The current proposal is requesting Caltrans to allow 4 & 5 axles Cranes Max. Tridem Bonus Purple Weight which was approved for hauled loads on March 1, 2006.
During this time there was controversy within segments of Industry on just how much weight should they allow, that was even after Caltrans had already approved 60,000 pounds. This issue was reciprocity between states for Trunnion trailers. The Department has been a large part in making the Murray, Cozad and Trail king Trunnion Trailer the trailer of choice by pushing Trunnion over Tridem trailers, which is still being done today. The problem is very few other states allow additional weight for Trunnion like
We submitted the separate proposal, followed all the procedures to make sure there weren’t any problem and it was approved by the workgroup to go to the Steering Committee for approval to be sent to Caltrans for final approval and if approved to be implemented. That is when the original proposal was put back on track, we were asked to combine the two proposals back into one and it was agreed to move the combined proposal forward requesting 60,000 pounds for Tridems.
There was much controversy throughout this time, so when it came down to the 11th hour, the Department excluded cranes from the new policy because there had not been enough discussion regarding Cranes. We immediately contact both Crane Associations, which represent approximately 90% of the cranes in
On June 3, 2009, the Crane Workgroup submitted their proposal to allow 4 & 5 axles Cranes Max. Tridem Bonus Purple Weight.
The Objective: To qualify for tridem bonus weights, the Department required that the equipment “not be a crane.” This proposal seeks to revise this requirement to allow tridem bonus weights for the 4 & 5 axle’s mobile crane with one (1) qualifying tridem axle group and up to 60,000 pounds bonus purple weight. For these cranes to qualify for tridem axle’s bonus purple weight, the equipment will have:
- Not have a boom dolly or trailer.
- No more than one (1) tridem group.
- Maximum axles spacing up to 10’-4” for qualifying tridem axle group.
- Not be close coupled on any axles.
Cranes with boom dollies/trailer are excluded from this proposal.
We really don’t see any issues with our requests, as others such as Tow Trucks, Drill Rigs and Concrete Pumpers, etc have been able to take advantage of this new policy since March 1, 2006. The Policy is currently being distributed to other department and their vehicle inspectors for comments that were supposed to be completed in a couple weeks for review.
What are the benefits for Caltrans, Industry and Crane Manufactures?
Increased efficiency and productivity are the driving forces of economic improvement. This is especially true in the mobile crane industry which is constantly called upon to provide these two components to virtually every construction site in the state. One additional component, safety, is added to this mix. Newer, larger mobile cranes meet these requirements in ways that older smaller machines cannot.
The increased weight of safer, stronger hydraulic lifting capacity is the key component adding additional efficiency, productivity and safety to performing our work. The lifting capacity of this equipment class has steadily risen over the past 15 years and so has the weight. Manufacturers are developing higher capacity machines that fill a need for the mobile crane industry and its customers—including Caltrans itself. This equipment will eliminate having to use two smaller machines on crowded job site and replace some of the larger cranes that are doing the work the smaller cranes couldn’t do.
The immediate benefits by allowing the additional weight for the 140 Ton Class Crane will also reduce the number of trips the heavier 200 Ton Class Cranes are making and in turn will also:
- Increase public safety when traveling with a smaller crane vs. a huge one. They have considerably much better visibility for the driver and increased mobility to maneuver safely and quickly if necessary. The weight and overall length is less for shorter stopping distance in uncertain traffic conditions.
- Increase jobsite safety, by reducing the number of cranes is in confined spaces, those working around it.
- Reduce pavement and infrastructure wear by using 140-tons cranes rather than the 200-tons behemoths they will replace. Additionally, the late model cranes are equipped with Hydrogas suspension, another pavement-saving technology.
- Improve efficiency and productivity where one machine of this class will have one crew instead of two or more for multiple smaller machines needed to perform the same task.
- There will be no load transfer that is necessary when most dollies are required and will not create a short coupled situation.
- The new 140 Ton Cranes also meets all regulatory requirements including the off-road diesel rules for heavy equipment. This machine with its Tier 3 engines will be compliant through 2017 without further modification.
This new policy would give clear visibility to crane manufactures by designing machines to meet uniform state standards, not exceed 60,000 lbs bonus Purple weight on a qualifying tridem axle group for a crane
3. Variance workgroup requested the following changes to better facilitate Efficient Goods Movement.
- 4 Group 60,000 lb Tridems allow the gross weight of two consecutive tridem groups within 25’ spread to equally divide the maximum allowable weights.
The problem Industry is experiencing is that if you have any two axle groups with 25’, you are allowed bonus purple 60,000 lbs on one group and the other group 52,500 lbs. Trailers are designed to balance the weight between axle groups, so in all reality, the 60,000 lbs allowed on one of the axle groups doesn’t help those trailers that are designed to balance. If they attempted to put 60,000 lbs on an axle group, it would them approximately 7,500 lbs over weight on the other axle group. It just wasn’t ever meant to be.
Example; within a 25’ spread only 1 group is permitted 60,000 lbs and the 2 group is allow 52,000 lbs. Using the Caltrans weight chart, take the maximum of both group’s 60,000 lbs and 52,000 lbs equals 112,000 and 56,000 lbs per group with this new policy. This would apply to the power unit and jeep and / or the semi trailer with two consecutive tridem axle groups up to 10’ wide, within a 25’spread. - Minimum and Maximumfor Variance loads requiring structure review only.
The change applies to Variance loads that require structural review due to their excessive weight (250,000 lbs) only. Through several meeting with Caltrans and CHP, we have agreed to accept the following changes that we hope will eliminate the number of delays caused by being off on an internal dimension as little as 2 to 3 inches. CHP is going to enforce what is on the permit and now with the minimum and maximum tolerances, it should reduce the problem considerably.
We have agreed to accept the following changes with the understanding to continue to monitor for any additional problems that we may continue to experience.
- The Tractor and/or the Pusher vehicles will be allowed a 1ft. min and max between axle 1 & 2.
- The Push bar between the Pusher and the trailer will be allowed a 1ft. tolerance.
- The Tractor and/or the Pusher will be allowed minimum axle spacing, such as 4’ 6” min.
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Now is when you will start realizing the difficulties of moving your equipment from job to job with fewer days to operate as local government are looking for ways to cut their over head.
Reaffirming Our Purpose:
If you have any problems with a local agency (city/county/state) and you find yourself asking ‘why are we having to do things this way’ and the agency tells you, ‘this is the way we have always done it’, let us know. We are here to make
Respectfully submitted,
Gregory D. Dineen
Industry Transportation Consultant
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