Proposal aims to limit CHP fines on over-length trucks in San Benito Co.
Proposal aims to limit CHP fines on over-length trucks in San Benito Co.
A bill before the state legislature would provide an exemption to truck length limits in San Benito County, potentially saving truckers – particularly those hauling agricultural goods – thousands of dollars in fines.
Sen. Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), whose district includes San Benito County, authored Senate Bill 1155 to exempt certain trucks from length limits for agricultural operations. It would allow so-called agricultural combination vehicles consisting of a motor truck and two trailers, up to 75 feet in length, to travel on local roads – not highways – as long as agricultural products are being hauled.
Existing law states that combination vehicles must not exceed a total length of 65 feet, with some exceptions. According to the Council of San Benito County Governments (COG), the California Highway Patrol issued nearly $39,000 in citations locally for over-length-violations to agricultural truckers between 2009 and 2011. Each over-length violation costs $171, according to the San Benito County Superior Court.
Cannella’s bill creates a pilot program for San Benito County specifically that would allow longer vehicles to be used in the local transportation of agricultural products if the Board of Supervisors or a city council within the county approves the provisions of the bill. SB1155 is modeled after bills that created similar pilot programs for the counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
COG, Supervisor Anthony Botelho and local agriculture interests worked with Cannella to fashion the bill, which is slated for a hearing on April 10.
Cannella’s office cited the 2010 production of $255 million worth of agricultural products and San Benito County’s abundance of farms and packing plants on rural roads as evidence that vehicle length exemptions are necessary.
The high incidence of ticketing has caused some truckers to refuse to operate in the county, Cannella’s office said in a briefing about the proposed bill.
The current rules present “a problem for farmers and truckers who rely on multi-trailer combinations longer than allowable length to move their agricultural produce from farms or packing plants.”
The bill creates a pilot program that allows agricultural production “to continue uninhibited in San Benito County while recognizing the potential safety risks of allowing long combination vehicles to travel” on rural roads, Cannella’s report states.
Botelho said that CHP officers told him that they are “just enforcing the law” when citing over-length trucks locally.
“They don’t cherry pick the laws they enforce,” he said. “If that’s the case, you’ve got to change the law.”
Hollister City Councilman Doug Emerson, in his role as a member of the COG board, sent a letter to Cannella on behalf of COG supporting the bill as a means of helping the local agricultural industry.
“Truck access to this economic engine is critical to the long-term vitality of the county,” the letter said. “Farmers and truckers have expressed concerns to the Council of Governments about the truck length limits, its impact to their operations and the vitality of the agricultural industry. Not only are truckers being fined on county roads, but perishable produce has been held up in the mid-day sun due to traffic citations issued by the CHP.”
The bill mandates that vehicles covered by the proposed bill not exceed 50 miles per hour when operating on a highway and have been inspected by the CHP. It would also required that the CHP conduct a study the effect has on public safety and report those to the legislature and governor by April 2014.
Cannella’s report on the bill states that without SB 1155, “economic growth in San Benito County will falter.”
