Requirements on trucks pulling 53 foot van styled trailers – enforcement could begin soon
The U.S. EPA will be publishing in the Federal Register its approval for the California Air Resources Board to begin enforcement of its Heavy-Duty Tractor-Trailer Greenhouse Gas Regulation or more commonly called the SmartWay rule. Read more
Drayage carrier Pac Anchor utilized truck lease-purchase business model
In another major set-back for California based motor carriers, the California Supreme Court issued a decision on July 28, 2014 affirming California’s Business and Professional Code § 17200 (“unfair competition law” or “UCL”) is not preempted by federal law. This decision is closely tied to the recent Ninth Circuit decision finding no federal preemption exists concerning motor carriers being required to follow California’s (paid) meal and rest break requirements for their employee truck drivers. Read more
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced on July 25, 2014 that Anne Ferro, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) intended to resign her position at the end of August. Read more
CARB’s Proposed Plans to Implement Rule Changes Needs More Work
The CCTA officially submitted its comments today to the California Air Resource Boards on its proposed language to implement board approved amendments. Instead of writing an article about our comments, we’re simply reposting the filed comments in their entirety.
July 17, 2014
VIA E-MAIL
Clerk of the Board
California Air Resources Board
1001 “I” Street
Sacramento, CA. 95812-2815
Re: Proposed amendments to the Truck and Bus Regulation (section 2025); 15 – day Modifications to Title 13, California Code of Regulations
To Whom it Concerns,
On behalf of the members of the California Construction Trucking Association (“CCTA” or “Association”) formerly known as the California Dump Truck Owners Association (“CDTOA”) we submit these comments in response to the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) 15-day notice of proposed amendments to the Statewide Truck and Bus regulation implementing additional compliance options approved by the full board on April 25, 2014.
15 – Day Rule Change Procedures Make Access Unlikely for Most Truckers
After all the hoopla, name calling, and even one lawsuit to stop CARB from moving forward with proposed amendments to the Statewide Truck and Bus rule, it appears CARB staff never intended to allow anyone to access a new provision called the “Economic Hardship Extension” or commonly referred to as the “loan denial provision.”
On July 1, 2014 CARB issued its Supplemental 15-Day Notice describing how the agency intends to implement board approved amendments to give truckers – typically owner-operators and small-business truckers unable to secure financing more time to comply with CARB’s rule. The requirements laid-out in the 15 – Day Notice are so onerous it is difficult to imagine many truck owners will attempt to take advantage of this new provision. Read more
By Californian columnist Lois Henry
The more I learn about how certain air regulations were concocted, the more ludicrous it all seems. Tomorrow the California Air Resources Board will debate whether to extend the deadline for small trucking firms to comply with rules on PM2.5. (That’s tiny bits of fine particulate matter contained in soot, dust and diesel exhaust.)
Truckers will be fighting truckers over table scraps. Read more
Federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agencies are putting their focus on fall safety, the number one cause of death at construction sites, this summer.
Cal/OSHA inspectors fanned out at construction sites in the San Francisco Bay Area late last month, following a recent rash of fatal accidents in the region. Investigators have been deployed to inspect construction worksites throughout the coming weeks to determine whether adequate measures have been taken to identify safety hazards and prevent injury. Read more
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is proposing major revisions to California’s heat illness prevention standard.
The action is not yet a formal rulemaking, but the agency is sending its proposal to the Standards Board, is a big first step in revising the almost 10-year-old regulation. Employers with heat exposures may be well advised to pay attention to this issue as it advances through the regulatory process. Read more
By Betty Plowman – Northern California Service Director CCTA
A newly formed coalition that is taking a stand against a fuel tax increase set for January 1, 2015, held its kick-off event at 3B’s Truck and Auto Plaza in Lodi on May 23, 2014.
The group is calling the state mandated increase a hidden, regressive tax created by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) without voter approval or approval of state legislators. The CARB created price increase under is a result of its “Fuels Under The Cap” regulations, part of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which was passed in 2006. Read more
The dust has settled on the California state budget process so we now know how bad the cuts for Caltrans’s fiscal 2014-15 budget (which started July 1) will be—$1.78 billion or 13.8 percent chopped off—for a total of $11.065 billion as compared with $12.89 billion for last year.
Virtually all of the cuts will come from the project side of the ledger as Governor Brown’s new five-year infrastructure plan kicks in this year with its emphasis on repair and maintenance, rather than new capacity for our highways, bridges and rural roads. (see the details for the infrastructure plan at www.ebudget.ca.gov/2014-Infrastructure-Plan.pdf ). Read more
