|
January 2008
Executive Summary
We work in the most regulated industry in the most regulated state in the union.
This report looks at the following changes in the ever-shifting regulatory scene:
- ARB Hearing – Smoke testing, member citation of $17,000 reduced
- CHP – Industry meeting with top brass
- City of Fontana – Annual permit states must be original when not required
- City of Yorba Linda – Requiring permits for legal vehicles; more on more truck routes
- City of Los Angeles – Curfew hours have been corrected
- City of Richmond – Requested meeting with Public Works Director
- City of Tustin – 48-Hours Notice required no loading or unloading in the street.
- Transportation Permits – Managing your transportation permit
ARB Citation Hearing – Smoke testing citation started at $17,000 reduced to $7,500
We attended a California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) appeal hearing December 12th with an industry contractor member. Paul Jacobs, Chief, Mobile Source Enforcement, personally conducted the two-hour hearing and several times made the point that this is not new law… and that our member should have known about it.
We were requested to attend the hearing by the California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) with their member who is also a Contractor member. We believe that if this member would have also been a member of CDTOA sooner, they would have been more informed concerning these regulatory requirements. CDTOA has been proactively educating its membership since 1998 on these regulations. As a Contractor, we are well informed about issues that affect our companies as it relates to contracting, but we sometimes overlook the other equipment we own, such as trucks that we have to have to make our companies work efficiently. That is why I can’t emphasize enough, how important it is to belong to more than one trade association. Contracting and Trucking Associations compliment each other and provide an enormous amount of expertise within their perspective industries.
CARB’s Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection Program and Periodic Smoke Inspection Program were adopted into law in 1988 (Senate Bill 1997) and 1990 (Senate Bill 2330), to stop excessive smoke emissions and tampering with heavy-duty diesel trucks’ and buses’ emission control systems. The regulations were amended in 1997.
That brings us back to the story of our industry member. An independent, ARB-approved smoke testing company salesman pitched them in July about getting their fleet tested. The fleet owner said he “would do a little research” and get back to them. Within two weeks, the contractor member received a form letter from CARB and realized this was serious. He called the sales representative to schedule testing, which was performed August 29, 2007. All 23 vehicles in the fleet passed. On August 31, CARB contacted the contractor asking for a meeting to review their records on smoke testing.
On October 9, CARB showed up with four inspectors to review the records and run tests on those trucks that were available. The contractor explained that he hadn’t been aware of the Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP) and when he found out about the requirement, he complied. Unfortunately, the CARB enforcement people were not sympathetic since it’s been a law for over 10 years and the contractor should have known this – ignorance of the law is not reasonable excuses.
The contractor was cited for non-compliance with the record-keeping provisions of the rule for 14 vehicles at $500 each for 2006 and 20 vehicles at $500 each for 2005, for a total of $17,000.
We explained during the hearing that the 14 vehicles recently tested had been scheduled and tested prior to being contacted for inspection. With the backup paperwork, ARB reduced the fine to $10,000 for the 20 vehicles in 2005 that weren’t tested. The contractor wanted to appeal this as an unreasonable fine and was told the only way to reduce the fine was to demonstrate economic hardship, requiring tax returns for the last three years, certified financial statements and much more.
The following day we contacted Paul Jacobs regarding the dissatisfaction that we felt from the outcome of the hearing. We again expressed that our member was complying with the regulation, now that he was aware of it. Mr. Jacobs agreed to review the report and lowered the fine to $7,500. It’s important to note that as part of this fine reduction, the contractor has agreed to be the subject in a feature story explaining this situation in the next CDTOA magazine (February) issue.
Check with your association for special services available through them to achieve compliance with this rule. The cost of doing nothing can be very high…and, as the CARB people repeatedly said during the hearing this month—ignorance of the law is no excuse.
CHP Escort Fees – Industry Stakeholders meet with top brass
We recently met with CHP Assistant Commissioner Art Anderson and Chief Steve Vaughn who made a special trip to Southern California to meet with industry and the enforcement community (CHP). The meeting was set-up with the assistance of ECA Legislative Advocate, Phil Vermeulen.
We have been working on better communications and uniformity for years as it relates to CHP Escorts for variance loads. Industry has to bid these loads months in advance and until the permit is issued, they can only guess the number officers that will be assigned and the cost. Industry has received estimated contracts anywhere from as much as $5,000 to $47,000 for CHP Escorts.
CHP Escorts are all on scheduled overtime hours, which is one of the reasons for the high costs. Anther reason is the unknown number of officers assigned to each move. Sometimes it is two officers; sometimes four or six and recently SEVEN!
CHP required the fees to be paid prior to their service; we did speak with the CHP Auditing Department and they agreed to accept one-half prior to the move with the balance of the estimate $47,000 was billed as a way of helping member cash flow. When CHP has submitted their actual hours and accounting has completed their job, which could be months later, refunds are issued or bills are sent out for the balance. This is why it is so difficult for Industry to be able to bid the hauls accurately; their customers demand exact quotes.
Our goal is to achieve some type of uniformity in service requirements and fees so industry can bid their projects with better accuracy. CHP has agreed to look into our concern and see what they can do to make the escort process reasonable for everyone.
City of Fontana – Annual Permits states must be original when not required
We received a call from a member regarding the current language on the face of their Annual Permit that can be misleading. In Fontana, Annual Permits can be copied as long as the company has submitted the list of their vehicles. What we see as a potential problem is on the face of the permit states in several areas “ORIGINAL” and “Each Vehicle must possess its original permit”.
The city agreed this was confusing and is going to make necessary changes. They have a concern with someone making false permits and are suggesting that if a company needed 10 annual permits, they would issue 10 original permits. We are waiting to see how the city will handle it.
Copies are valid as agreed upon earlier this year, we will keep you updated.
City of Yorba Linda – Requiring Permits for Legal Vehicles & Truck Routes?
A member called after being told by a contractor that in order for them to deliver equipment to the project, they needed to obtain a transportation permit for any commercial vehicle over 3-tons. We explained that no political subdivision (city or county) can require a transportation permit for a legal load, whether you are construction-related or the local grocery delivery truck.
We made several phone calls to city staff regarding this issue. They finally stopped requiring transportation permits for legal loads. We also asked, while we had their cooperation, if they would consider increasing the number of truck routes through their city. We have been working with city staff for several years on increasing additional truck routes to allow industry to move their equipment more efficiently. The city currently has only two truck routes, Imperial Hwy and the 91 Freeway. There are no routes through the city, which means once you get to Village Center Dr. on Yorba Linda Blvd from either direction, you must return the same direction you entered or as enforcement said “consider there is a block wall or dead end.” This can sometimes add as much as 10 additional miles of travel, which we explained to staff will contribute to the air quality problem. City staff is meeting with the City of Placentia to see if changes that they may make will affect them. We suggested that making all primary routes based on the Thomas Guide Truck Routes would resolve this issue.
We recently spoke with Assemblyman Duvall regarding the truck routing issue and he agreed to make a couple phone calls to see if he can help expedite our request. Assemblyman Duvall previously was the Mayor of Yorba Linda.
City of Los Angeles – Curfew hours have been corrected
We were contacted by a member who was reviewing their Annual Permits and noticed that the curfew hours had increased. The new hours reduced travel by 2½ hours a day from Industry. Curfew restricts travel to any load over 8’-6” wide, Caltrans and LA County only restricts 10’ wide loads.
The Permit states: “NOTE: CURFEW HOURS 6:00 A.M. TO 9:00 A.M. AND
3:30 P.M. TO 7:00 P.M.”
The City Website and Permit Attachments state the following: “OPERATING DAYS AND HOURS. Moving is prohibited on Monday’s through Friday’s during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, moving is prohibited during the hours of 12 noon to 12 midnight. This permit is not valid on Sunday or on the following holidays – New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day unless specifically authorized by the Board of Public Works.”
The city reviewed the language on the Annual Permits and agreed that it was an error and has since requested their IT Department to make the necessary changes to the web site. Currently all Annual Permits expire February 28 and until that date, industry will only need to refer to permit attachments which are accurate. We were assured that industry wouldn’t have any problems; you just need to know when you can travel. If you have any questions, please let us know.
City of Richmond – Meeting to discuss implementation of Annual Permits
We recently met with the City Engineer Rich Davidson, Traffic Engineer Steven Tam and staff to discuss implementation of Annual Permits. The discussion ranged from routing, controlling where the loads were traveling, allowable dimension for an envelope vehicle and whether permits would be issued to a company or each vehicle. We explained that most companies obtaining Annual Permits are local and obtain them in order to better serve their customers and make movement more efficient without delays.
The cost of permitting: As an example, if every locality in Contra Costa County (10) were to charge a company fleet of 20 vehicles $90 each, it would cost them $18,000 a year just to obtain annual permits in one county. Most companies conduct business in five or six counties if not more, in order to better service the customers. When we explained to the city staff that this wasn’t a toll, but rather a permit allowing travel through their city, they agreed.
We are hoping to see Annual Permits implemented sometime in January or February. The city staff wants to move this forward quickly as they also see a significant saving in staff time.
City of Tustin – 48 Hours Notice required, no loading or unloading in the street.
We had a member who renewed their Annual Permit and notice that there was some language stating “Permit holder shall notify City in writing 24 and/or 48 hours prior to Move” and “NO LOADING/UNLOADING ON CITY STREETS”.
Our industry doesn’t always have the luxury of even 12 hours notice, let alone 48-hours. Then to not be able to unload in the street brings up another complication.
We have contacted Public Works Director Tim Serlet and explained that this same issue had been resolved back in 2002, not knowing it was going to reappear, back then it was a 24 hour notice. He stated that the City’s intention is to work with industry and will look into the issues.
We point out that the California Vehicle Code (CVC) 35553 addresses the loading and unloading issue, which contradict their current restriction.
CVC 35553. The provisions of this article shall not apply to any vehicle in the immediate vicinity of an unloading or loading area while actually preparing for or in the process of unloading or loading, provided any overload is incidental to and necessitated by such action; and provided that such action does not occur on a bridge or highway structure.
We will continue to work with the City to have this language removed to make it clear for everyone.
Transportation Permits – Managing your transportation permits
As several cases in this report illustrate, it is important for you to actually read your permits and make sure that they meet your needs. Review them for such things as expiration dates, dimensions, hours of travel, pilot car requirements, fees and the attachments. When you have one expiring, start about a month in advance and compare it with what other localities are allowing. If you need nights and weekends request it or if you need increased dimensions request it. Local agencies can be flexible. Don’t just ask for what you have received for years, you may find yourself not benefiting from the changes that we have worked so hard to obtain for you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
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 |
