BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 773|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 773
Author: Wiggins (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/10/07
AYES: McClintock, Ashburn, Cedillo, Corbett, Dutton,
Harman, Simitian, Torlakson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lowenthal, Kehoe, Oropeza
SUBJECT : Vehicles: length exemption: Highway 101
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill changes a provision in state law that
exempts, until January 1, 2012, specified livestock
carriers on portions of Highway 101 from vehicle length
limitations, so that longer vehicles can travel on that
state highway.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Prohibits any combination of vehicles coupled together,
including any attachments, from exceeding a total length
of 65 feet, with certain, specified exceptions.
2. Provides an exemption to the length limitation until
January 1, 2012, for licensed carriers of livestock on
CONTINUED
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portions of Highway 101 in the counties of Del Norte,
Humboldt, and Mendocino, if the travel is necessary and
incidental to the shipment of livestock. The exemption
allows a truck tractor/semi-trailer combination of up to
70 feet provided that the distance from the kingpin to
the rear axle does not exceed 40 feet.
3. Requires that by January 1, 2011, the Department of the
California Highway Patrol (CHP), in consultation with
the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans),
report to the Legislature on its comprehensive study of
the effect that this exemption has on public safety.
This study shall accord with CHP's recommendations made
in its 2006 study of the public safety effects of the
exemption.
This bill expands the exemption to length limitations on
Highway 101 for livestock carriers to include those
semi-trailers that measure up to 43 feet from the kingpin
to the rearmost axle of the semi-trailer, provided the
semi-trailer does not exceed a total of 48 feet.
Background
Prior to 1999, the length restrictions on highways leading
into and out of counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, and
Mendocino made the travel of most interstate trucks
illegal. Representatives of the livestock industry
contended that these restrictions would diminish their
ability to do business. They contended that the
regulations denied two of the north coast counties,
Humboldt and Del Norte, full access to available livestock
trucking opportunities. To address their concerns, AB 2426
(Strom-Martin), Chapter 711, Statutes of 1998, created a
two-year exemption period for livestock carriers to travel
on portions of Highway 101 and required that the CHP
conduct a study on the possible safety impacts of the
exemption. The sunset date has been extended several times
since as follows:
1.AB 1474 (Cardoza), Chapter 911, Statutes of 1999, added
one more year to the exemption, and gave the CHP until
July 1, 2001, to complete the study and report to the
Legislature.
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2.AB 220 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 413, Statutes of 2001,
continued the exemption until January 1, 2004, and
instructed the CHP to conduct a second study on the
possible safety impacts, which was never issued.
3.SB 127 (Chesbro), Chapter 188, Statutes of 2003, extended
the sunset date until January 1, 2007, and required the
CHP to conduct a third study on the safety impacts, which
was issued on March 20, 2006.
4.SB 1224 (Chesbro), Chapter 449, Statutes of 2006,
extended the sunset date until 2012, and required the CHP
to continue the comprehensive study of the effect of the
exemption on public safety and to make recommendations on
future exemptions by January 1, 2011.
The Legislature and three governors, through five different
bills, have created and extended this exemption. Four of
these bills required that the CHP, in consultation with
Caltrans to report to the Legislature on the public safety
impacts of the exemption. In each of its studies, the CHP
has found that "no collisions, citations, verbal warnings,
complaints, or highway incidents related to the exemption?,
involving licensed carriers of livestock on this portion of
[SR] 101" occurred.
Despite these findings, Caltrans maintains that these
highway segments are "geometrically inadequate for use by
truck tractor and semi-trailer combinations with a [KP-RA
(kingpin to rear axle)] length over 32 feet and a combined
vehicle length exceeding 65 feet." Longer vehicles cross
over into the oncoming lane of traffic or go off the
roadway when rounding curves in the highway. This is known
as "off tracking." This problem could only be resolved
through structural improvements to the highway, which would
be both expensive and raise significant environmental
considerations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/16/07)
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California Cattlemen's Association
California Chamber of Commerce
County of Mendocino
County of Sonoma
Former State Senator Wes Chesbro
Fortuna Chamber of Commerce
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County Cattlemen's Association
Northcoast Regional Land Trust
Redwood Regional Economic Development Commission
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/16/07)
Automobile Club of Southern California
California State Automobile Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office notes that
most of the beef grown in Northern California is shipped
out-of-state, so north coast ranchers need to use
out-of-state trailers for movement of their product.
Livestock ranchers in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino
Counties operate at a greater economic disadvantage when
compared with livestock ranchers throughout the rest of
California, because they are limited by statute to use
trailers with a kingpin to the rear axle of 40 feet. The
author asserts that approximately "ninety percent of the
equipment used to transport cattle and other livestock to
out-of-state markets are trailers with a kingpin of up to
43 feet."
The author states that "several tighter than normal turns
along three very short sections of Highway 101 at
Richardson's Grove, Confusion Hill and Big Lagoon" have
prevented the North Coast Livestock Industry from utilizing
43-foot trailers to haul cattle. For this reason, the
author introduced this bill to provide for the longer
semi-trailers on this section of Highway 101.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California State Automobile
Association and the Automobile Club of Southern California
state in opposition:
"Because the road is not designed to sufficiently handle
longer combination trucks, it is difficult for the truck
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to make turns without encroaching into adjacent lanes,
crossing centerlines or going off the pavement. To all
even longer kingpin-to-rear-axle lengths will only
increase the problem of off-tracking and the associated
potential safety hazards.
"There have been no major modifications made to this
stretch of SR 101 since the initial report and findings
by Caltrans in 1989. Subsequent reports reiterate the
Caltrans findings. Therefore the threat of off-tracking
by longer combination vehicles resulting in serious
traffic accidents remains."
JJA:mw 4/16/07 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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