MINUTES OF THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Sixty-seventh Session
June 1, 1993
The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 2:08 p.m., on Tuesday, June 1, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen, Vice Chairman
Senator Mark A. James
Senator Leonard V. Nevin
Senator Thomas J. Hickey
Senator Lori L. Brown
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr. (Excused)
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Senator Raymond C. Shaffer, Clark County District No. 2
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Paul Mouritsen, Senior Research Analyst
Terri Jo Wittenberg, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Daryl E. Capurro, Lobbyist, Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association
Randy Jackson, Manager, Transportation Division, Nevada Public Service Commission
Colonel William J. Yukish, Chief, Highway Patrol Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety
Cherie Lauvat, Executive Director, Food Bank of Northern Nevada
Chairman O'Donnell opened the hearing on Senate Bill (S.B.) 498.
Senate Bill 498: Requires issuance of notice of correction for certain violations concerning heavy-duty motor vehicles.
Senator Raymond C. Shaffer, Clark County District No. 2, testified in support of S.B. 498. Senator Shaffer said this bill was requested by several people doing business in his district operating vehicles over 10,000 pounds in gross weight. He explained, the complaints have been from various carriers but primarily, the complaints have come from nine redimix companies located in his district. He said the policy has been to stop these trucks and the enforcement agency parks outside the location early in the morning and waits for the first truck to leave and inspects the vehicle, taking as long as they wish. He said the nature of this business requires that the trucks must be punctual in reaching the job sites because there is a crew of men waiting for the concrete and there is a time period during which the trucks can transport the redimix and still be able to use it. He added, the loss to the redimix company for an unusable load of concrete is about $500.
Senator Shaffer said that two companies in his district have gone out of business, not solely because of the policy, but the policy did contribute to it. He said the bill asks for time to correct anything that might be wrong with the vehicle and if the violation is severe enough, they should be escorted to the site so they can unload their load and then take the vehicle in to the appropriate repair facility. He said "let's let them deliver their cargo and if there is an eighth of an inch less tread on one tire, I'm sure that's not going to cause injury to anyone during the trip to the site and back to the yard."
Senator Hickey asked if the vehicle is found to have problems within a 15 mile radius, a police vehicle would escort the truck to the delivery site.
Senator Shaffer said that was correct and the only other alternative is to dump the load and lose the $500.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if a local law enforcement agency had been sitting outside these businesses.
Senator Shaffer said the law enforcement officers are under the jurisdiction of the Nevada Highway Patrol Division.
Daryl E. Capurro, Lobbyist, Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association, spoke in favor of S.B. 498. Mr. Capurro said he did not think the 15 days in the present law is a reasonable amount of time to get some things fixed. He continued he would be happy to work with a subcommittee to come up with an equitable amendment.
Senator Nevin asked if 15 days to fix minor violations and a longer period of time for the more serious repairs would be sufficient.
Mr. Capurro said he thought that 15 days is too long to allow for the correction of minor violations.
Randy Jackson, Manager, Transportation Division, Nevada Public Service Commission (PSC), testified with regard to S.B. 498. Mr. Jackson said his agency supports the concept of S.B. 498.
Chairman O'Donnell said the intent of the bill is to prohibit law enforcement agencies from detaining, specifically a vehicle that is holding a perishable cargo, from getting to its destination just because of routine or minor equipment violations.
Senator Hickey asked how the PSC would react to a list of minor traffic violations which this bill would address.
Mr. Jackson said it would be very easy to develop a list which would have the items on it that would put a vehicle out of service and to also delineate another list of items which would be minor violations which would warrant a "fixit" ticket and then send the vehicle "on down the road." He added, there would have to be another group of violations in the "middle" which would have to be left to the discretion of the law enforcement officer as to whether he or she would issue a citation or a mechanical repair order.
Senator Hickey suggested using a class I, class II and class III type of violation criteria.
Mr. Jackson said he thinks that is a viable idea.
Senator Nevin asked if the safety criteria which is now applied to busses could be used for inspections of the trucks.
Mr. Jackson said he would like to defer that question to Colonel Yukish.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if there are now different classes of infractions.
Mr. Jackson said, from the PSC's point of view, if it is listed in the law, it is a misdemeanor violation. He said this would be anything from a taillight out or a cracked windshield, to a tie-rod end about to fall off.
Colonel William J. Yukish, Chief, Highway Patrol Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, testified in regard to S.B. 498. Col. Yukish said he had spoken with Senator Shaffer about this and had, since, resolved the problem to the mutual satisfaction of Senator Shaffer and the owner of the cement company. Col. Yukish said the policy of his department is to have the officers issue the mechanical repair order or "fixit" tickets when the violation is a minor item such as a light out or the signage on the door is not correct. He continued, they issue the "hard citations" for those violations which would be considered "out of service" criteria.
Chairman O'Donnell said he gathered from the Colonel's testimony that he felt the bill is not necessary but it is a wakeup call.
Col. Yukish said that is correct but he did tell Senator Shaffer that if the legislature wanted to tell law enforcement that there are those violations out there that they should not issue the citation for, they would certainly look at that and would participate in it.
Senator Hickey asked if he had any ideas about classifying different violations.
Col. Yukish replied if the legislature wanted to look at classifying the different types of violations and specifically say what a mechanical repair order would be issued for, they would be happy to work with that. He added, they currently do issue more mechanical repair orders than they issue the hard citations.
Senator Hickey said it is obvious when a machine needs to be taken off the road, and this bill would address when they get into the "gray" areas.
Col. Yukish said there are times when the only way they can get the particular carrier's attention is to get them into court and provide evidence to the court of the hazards and violations the carrier is constantly being cited for.
Senator Hickey asked Col. Yukish if he thought the 15 day limit was an adequate amount of time to fix mechanical problems.
Col. Yukish replied if the violation is minor, he sees no problem with the 15 day limit, however, if the problem is serious, the vehicle should be pulled from service and not operated in the 15 day period.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.B. 498 and opened the hearing on S.B. 500.
Senate Bill 500: Makes various changes relating to persons who sell, lease, dismantle or impound vehicles.
Mr. Capurro testified in regard to S.B. 500. Mr. Capurro said this bill is very similar to Assembly Bill (A.B.) 510 and as long as that bill was being processed on the other side it might be a good idea to wait and see if A.B. 510 gets out of the Assembly Committee on Transportation. He added, it does not seem necessary to process both bills.
Assembly Bill 510: Makes various changes related to automobile wreckers and operators of tow cars.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.B. 500 and opened the hearing on S.B. 503.
Senate Bill 503: Authorizes common carriers to transport various items for charitable organizations for free or at reduced rates.
Cherie Lauvat, Executive Director, Food Bank of Northern Nevada, testified in support of S.B. 503. Ms. Lauvat said the Northern Nevada Food Bank (NNFB) is a nonprofit organization engaged in obtaining, warehousing and distributing food to 78 charitable organizations that serve the needy in Nevada. Ms. Lauvat said the NNFB brought in, and distributed around the state, 2.3 million pounds of food in 1992. She said the NNFB has to obtain their own transportation even though the food is donated to them. Ms. Lauvat explained that about 1 million pounds of this food was brought in to the state for free or at a reduced rate. She added, approximately 25 percent of that food was brought in by one privately owned fleet which, unfortunately, will be leaving soon. She said the cost for this transpiration during the past year was about $12,000 and would be substantially larger without the collaboration that they experience with the transportation community.
Mr. Capurro said the law prohibits the trucking companies from providing transportation at free or reduced rates, even though there are many trucking firms who would like to participate in this operation.
Mr. Jackson said the PSC has worked with the NNFB and does support S.B. 503.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.B. 503.
SENATOR NEVIN MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 503.
SENATOR JACOBSEN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATORS BROWN, NEAL AND JAMES WERE ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
Chairman O'Donnell assigned S.B. 498 to Senator Nevin to work on in subcommittee.
There being no further business before the committee, Chairman O'Donnell adjourned the meeting at 2:50 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Terri Jo Wittenberg,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
DATE:
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Senate Committee on Transportation
June 1, 1993
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