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February 2007
Heavy Equipment
Owners Be Aware!
Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition
(CIAQC), BT&H & Caltrans
The overriding issue facing the construction industry this year is the off-road diesel regulations proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). These rules, which are scheduled to go to the CARB Board this April, will impact every contractor and equipment owner in the state. We have joined the fight to lessen the impact of these regulations. If they are not modified, many of these firms will be forced out of business, which will have a huge effect on the construction transportation industry.
Most equipment owners are still unaware that their equipment, if it is older than the 2001 model year (Tier 2), will not meet the state’s proposed standards. If you own equipment with Tier 0 engine class (pre-1996), you have an immediate problem.
The word needs to get out to all those equipment owners, small and large, to be aware that there are regulations being made and their voice needs to be heard. These rules are going to be drastically affecting small business owners with more than 1500 combined horsepower in their fleet.
We got into this effort last May, when, by chance, at a meeting regarding transportation issues, we met Barry Sedlik, acting secretary of the Department of Business, Transportation and Housing. BT&H controls, among other things, Caltrans and CHP. Over the intervening months, we have supplied Mr. Sedlik with SCCA’s information on these CARB regulations. This has gotten the attention of BT&H & Caltrans and they agree that there could be a potential problem with contractors being available to even bid Caltrans projects and the bond issue and goods movement projects they are working to achieve.
We recently attended a Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition (CIAQC) meeting and were fortunate enough to have been able to get BT&H and Caltrans attendance as well. The other attendees included some top industry leaders: major contractors, other public entities (such as the City of Los Angeles), equipment manufacturers, industry association directors, attorneys and consultants. The key points of agreement were that the industry can significantly reduce its emissions, but it is going to take a little longer (five to seven years) than the California Air Resources Board proposes under the off-road diesel regulations they are rushing into place.
California’s construction industry is large and diverse, but the key to understanding our business is to think of it as a collection of hundreds of thousands family owned businesses. The Census Bureau estimates the California construction industry at more than 260,000 companies, employing nearly one million people. It is one of the largest private employers in the state. These CARB proposals put those firms and jobs at risk.
CARB is telling the industry to simply pass the costs of this rule (which we estimate at between $22 billion and $60 billion to achieve the goals) to its customers. These regulators forget the key difference in construction - every single job is competitively bid - and the cost of equipment is a key component in those bids. If the playing field is level - if everyone is buying new equipment, you can expect the cost of new construction to skyrocket.
We don’t expect the playing field to be level. The cost of replacing 80 percent of the current fleet is going to kill most of these family-owned businesses, leaving a far smaller construction industry dominated by a few giant publicly held companies with access to the international capital markets to fund the new equipment required under CARB’s high-speed regulatory approach. These giants will have a monopoly on major projects in this state and we all know what will happen to the state’s construction cost under this scenario. The CIAQC answer to this conundrum is relatively simple - stretch out the initial compliance time while doing the following:
- Develop a state-wide registration effort so CARB truly knows the industry it is regulating
- Spend time and money in an extensive out-reach program to the industry explaining the need for the requirements and technologies that can achieve them.
- Provide methods to assist in paying for them (Carl Moyer money goes away once the industry is regulated, tax credits for new equipment investments could be developed) and
- Allow the planned technological improvements (primarily Tier 4 engines) time to work their way into the equipment distribution system.
CIAQC is another important Construction Industry Advancement Fund Grant Program. If you are not familiar with CIAQC and the great and important work that they have been doing in the air quality arena, check out their web site at
www.ciaqc.com.
San Bernardino County Meeting:
The county has responded to industry’s request for change.
Summer Hour Restrictions-
We continue to feel that restricting all desert county roads during this 3 ½ month period is unreasonable. The county has denied our request, but we will continue to work toward a reasonable resolution.
Permit Escort Language has been
updated to read the following:
We had been working with the county to allow not only CHP to escort loads exceeding 15’ wide, but any law enforcement agency. CHP requires a 10 day advance notification. The county agreed that this was reasonable, so they have since revised their language on the permit to reflect the change. The problem was that industry was still waiting on CHP; the change wasn’t publicized. We requested it be on the face of the permit and it was agreed to use the following language:
“This moved is only authorized if escorted along the above mentioned route by California Highway Patrol. In the event that California Highway Patrol is unavailable to escort, other local law enforcement agencies may be substituted. Hours of move to be at the discretion of the escorting agency.”
Annual Permits
- Height- the county has agreed to increase height from 14’ to 16’, this will require a computer programming change and until they have the cost, implementation will be on hold.
- Width – We requested 14’6” from 12’ wide and the county
has denied our request.
We explained that these changes will benefit the county and industry by reducing delays and staff time and will continue to pursue these reasonable objectives.
San Joaquin County – Certificate of Insurance
We were contacted by a member transporting two loads through San Joaquin County and had been waiting several days for approval of the permits to allow the load to travel. This particular load required CHP escorts because they were “unusually large or heavy loads.” The member had obtained all the permits required when it entered California, but was being help up with San Joaquin County’s insurance requirements to obtain the permit.
The problem wasn’t that there was anything wrong with their insurance, but that county wasn’t reading the insurance certificate correctly. They said that they had called the insurance company directly and the insurance company told them that they didn’t insure the company vehicles, only the load. The county was requiring so much unnecessary documentation, workman’s compensation, auto liability and cargo insurance, they had gotten confused. We explained the Auto Liability Certificate and the county agreed to issue the permits.
I received the call at 4:00 pm on a Friday afternoon, knowing that if we didn’t get to the right people, this permit wouldn’t be issued until Monday. If that would have been the case, CHP would have re-scheduled their personnel, going on to the next move in line that has been scheduled and the member would have been out of luck, as CHP requires 10-day notification.
Our member received their permits at 5:15 pm, (after hours) and everything went as planned.
San Luis Obispo County – CHP Requirements
We recently had an Over-Dimensional Permit Seminar held at San Luis Obispo County and one of the major issues discussed was that all loads exceeding 14’ wide required CHP escorts. Whether the route was ½ mile over county roads or 2 miles, CHP charges a 4 hours minimum at a cost of approximately $800, which can be considerably more depending on the area.
During our meeting, the county agreed that industry would work with CHP and develop a list of routes CHP considered safe travel for loads up to 15’ wide without their assistance in escorting.
After working with CHP, we submitted routes based on the Primary Routes of the Thomas Guide Map Book. This would make it clear to industry what routes they could travel without CHP involvement. CHP and industry have agreed that this would be beneficial to all.
We have submitted our proposal to the county for approval.
City of Los Angeles – Annual Permit renewal denials
I received several calls from members trying to renew their annual permits. The City of L. A. annual permits all expire on February 28th, which will change soon, but until then there has been a change to the equipment description language. The city will no longer accept California Vehicle Code 320.5 language as the rest of the state does.
- Old Language - CVC 320.5 - An “extralegal load” is a single unit or an assembled item which, due to its design, cannot be reasonably reduced or dismantled in size or weight so that it can be legally transported as a load without a permit as required by Section 35780.
- New Language for Construction Equipment Annuals- Miscellaneous construction equipment such as crawler tractors, carry-all scrapers, pull-type scrapers, crawler cranes, backhoes, rollers, compactors, pavers, portable conveyors, concrete spreaders, concrete tampers, concrete floats, etc.
There may be other equipment that you are moving not listed; not to worry, you will be covered. The city understands that everything can’t be listed, but as long as it relates to construction equipment you will be fine.
If you or your permit service is having any difficulty renewing your annual permits, let me know. We have already had a number of calls from Permit Services trying to have annuals issued for our members.
City of Chino Hills – Haul Route Permit
We were contacted by two members regarding an import project in Chino Hills. The contractors applied for their haul permit as required through the grading permit. The requirements created a delivery problem because of restricted hours, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
We set up a meeting with City Engineer at the jobsite to discuss the possibility to shorten the afternoon curfew, imposed because of the school adjacent to the jobsite. The City Engineer agreed that 1:45 to 2:20 would not affect the school traffic. We discussed a shorter, more efficient route, which was 1½ miles shorter in each direction. The City Engineer agreed that that would also be fine.
The contractor and the hauler will benefit with additional hours of travel and a shorter route for the approximately 900 loads.
This was a reasonable request and sometimes when you’re dealing with reasonable people, things can be accomplished.
City of Fontana - Permits
We recently met with the City of Fontana to discuss changes in their current Transportation Permit policy.
- Single Trip Permits: No longer delays
l Permit valid from 1-day to 3-days - Approved
l Police Department has to sign off on each permit, which creates an unnecessary delay. The City agreed that permits will no longer require the approval by the Police Department, unless it is a variance load. This would eliminate delay in the issuance of permits.- approved
l Loads exceeding 16’ high and 15’ wide will require additional review at a cost of $100.
- Annual Permits:
l Allowable height increased from 14’ to 16’ Approved
l Allow width to be increased from 14’ to 15’ Approved
l Add restriction on the face of the permit to show Railroad Bridge height on Foothill Blvd at 15’ 9”, approved.
l Issue the permit to the company and the company supplies a list of truck license number, under review.
- Method of Payment:
l Review possible on-line payment – The City will make this a goal for the upcoming year to have an on-line permit system, which will allow on-line payment. (21st Century)
- Hours of Travel:
l New change, No Weekend Travel – Requested weekend travel – Approved
l New change, No Holiday Travel – Requested holiday travel – Approved
l 24/7 Travel Approved
- Pilot Car Requirement:
The City has adopted the Industry’s Recommended Pilot Car Requirements
One Pilot Car Required:
A. Length:
- Any vehicle with a single kingpin combination between 75’ to 100’.
- Any vehicle combination of truck, tractor and jeep/semi trailers coupled together (multi-kingpin) exceeding 120’.
- Any vehicle combination of truck, tractor, jeep and semi-trailers coupled together (multi-kingpin), with articulating rear steering on the rear semi-trailer exceeding 125’ to 135’.
B. Width: Loads exceeding 12’ to 15’.
C. Height: Front Pilot Car with vertical measuring device on
loads exceeding 17’.
D. Overhang:
- Rear: When the rear load projection exceeds 25’ when measured from the rear extremity of the hauling equipment.
- Front: When the front overhang exceeds 25’.
Two Pilot Cars Required:
A. Length:
- 1Any vehicle with a single kingpin combination exceeding 100’.
- Any vehicle combination of truck, tractor, jeep and semi-trailer coupled together (multi-kingpin), with articulating rear steering on the rear semi-trailer exceeding 135’.
B. Width: Loads exceeding 15’.
C. Combination: A combination of the following:
1C (Height) and 1A (length) or,
1C (Height) and 1B (width).
- CHP Requirements:
l New change, CHP required for loads exceeding 15’ wide – Currently 2 pilot cars are required at 15’, and we requested that local Police or City staff escort loads exceeding 18’ wide and 18’ high traveling within Fontana no using local freeway but for local deliveries. Approved
- Insurance Requirements:
We have requested that the City review their current insurance requirements. We will be meeting with them in the future.
City of Lake Elsinore
We received a call from a member that was scheduling import for a job in City of Lake Elsinore. They contacted the city to make sure the route would be okay and were told that they needed a Haul Permit. The haul permit consisted of $5,000 cash bond, video taping of the route before and after the haul, $100 permit fees and $400 inspection fees.
We contacted the city and explained that the California Vehicle Code 35782 (b) doesn’t allow a locality to require a bond or permit for a legal commercial vehicle:
CVC 35782 (b) The Department of Transportation or a local authority may not require the posting of a bond as a condition of the issuance of a permit, except that a requirement of extra insurance or other financial security may be imposed as a condition for a permit for unusually large or heavy loads that pose a substantial risk to public facilities. The city agreed and allowed the member to conduct business as usual.
City of Oxnard – Pilot Cars, hours of travel,
annuals implementation delayed
We spoke with the City of Oxnard to see how soon we can expect implementation of the approved changes. The city has experienced losing a couple engineers and until they have been able to fill the positions, they will not be able to work on implementing our requests. They hope to have the positions fill in 60 days. We will keep you updated.
Our message to the industry:
“If you have any problems with a local agency and you find yourself asking ‘why we are having to do things this way’ and the agency tells you’ this is the way we have always done it,’ let me know. We are here to make California transportation operations as smooth and safe as possible.
Respectfully submitted,
Gregory D. Dineen
Industry Transportation Consultant
cc: John Hakel, AGC D. Cash Benton, SCCA
Richard Paine, ECA Sam Meyer, MCOG
Richard Lambros, BIA Lee Brown, CDTOA
Aimee Shook, DCA Jeff Hunter, CTTA
Michael Vlaming, COA Michael Lewis, CIAQC
Doug Ball, SC&RA |
