L E S T E R R O R I C K

P R E S I D I N G J U D G E

C I T Y O F P A S A D E N A

DOT AND FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER LAW

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LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Identify Federal and State authority that underlies commercial motor vehicle enforcement

• Identify the components of an electronic citation that charge an offense under the FMCSR

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A FEDERAL AND STATE PARTNERSHIP

• 2008 saw 4,066 large trucks involved in fatal crashes and 66,000 large trucks involved in injury crashes

• FMCSA partners with states to conduct roadside inspections

• States are a “FORCE MULTIPLIER”

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MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

• 49 CFR part 350 sets up MCSAP

• Ensure that FMCSA and States work together

• Reduce accidents with CMVS

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WHAT’S IN IT FOR TEXAS?

• FY ’13 Texas received nearly NINE BILLIONin MCSAP grants

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HOW DO I QUALIFY?

• States must adopt some rules and regulations compatible with FMCSR

• COMPATIBLE = Identical for Interstate Commerce

• COMPATIBLE = Identical or within Tolerance Guidelines Intrastate

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WHAT PART OF 49 CFR APPLY?

• §390 – General requirements

• §391 – Qualifications of drivers

• §392 – Driving of commercial MVs

• §393 – Parts & Accessories

• §395 – Hours of service

• §396 – Inspection, repair and maintenance

• §397 – Transport Haz Mat driving & parking rules

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TEXAS STATUTORY SCHEME

• Transportation code Sec. 644.051 authorizes DPS to adopt rules and regulations for safe operation of CMVs.

• Director may adopt all or part of federal safety regs by reference.

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WHAT HAS DPS ADOPTED?

• More than required

• Except CDL regulations

• Adoption by DPS includes all interpretations

• Applicable to interstate and intrastate commerce

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IN ADDITION TO §390 - §397TEXAS HAS ADOPTED

• § 40 - Procedures for workplace drug and alcohol testing

• § 380 - Special training rquirements

• § 382 - Controlled substance and alcohol testing

• § 385 - Safety fitness procedures

• § 387 - Minimum levels of financial responsibility

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ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT

• Who’s eligible?

• Section 644.101 of the Transportation Code often amended

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ELIGIBLE CITIES

• Municipality less than 5,000 adjacent to a bay connected to Gulf of Mexico in county adjacent to county with population greater than 3.3 million.

• Municipality of 50,000 or more;

• Municipality of 25,000 or more in a county of at least 500,000

• Municipality in a county bordering Mexico

• Municipality with a population less than 25,000 located in a County of 3.3 million that contains or is adjacent to an international port; 12

• Municipality with a population of 34,000 located in a county that borders two or more States.

• Within 25 miles of an international port in a county that does not contain a highway that is part of the national system and is adjacent to a county with a population of more than 3.3 million.

• Municipality with population of less than 8,500 that is a county seat contains a highway that is part of national highway system.

• Sheriff or Deputy of a county bordering Mexico or of a county with a population of 2.2 Million or more.

ELIGIBLE CITIES

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WHAT’S IN IT FOR THESE CITIES?

• Cities may retain 110% of actual expenses for preceding fiscal year; but,

• Must pay ALL COSTS relating to enforcement; and,

• Are not party to the Federal Grant

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MISCELLANEOUS

• No reasonable suspicion/probable cause for stops

• Class “C” misdemeanor to violate a rule adopted under Chapter 644

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ELECTRONIC TICKETING

• Tickets are uniform everywhere but Texas

• But all tickets are uniform throughout Texas

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Establish level of inspection:

Level 1-all aspects of vehicle including paperwork, driver, equipment and load securement

Level 2-”walk around” vehicle equipment, driver and load securement

Level 3-driver only and paperwork

Level 4-special program (i.e. only brakes, specific part of vehicle to target and nothing more)

Level 5-terminal inspection, notice given, no surprises, prearranged level 1 inspection with no charges

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CDL commercial driver license does it apply to driver and inspection?

CMV commercial motor vehicle

>10,001 lbs. interstate

>26,001 lbs. intrastate

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Truck and trailer information

Units 1 & 2 are articulated /combination

CO# – Company number (unit identifier)

License Plate & State – Self explanatory

Seal Rem – Seal removed

Seal Inst – Seal installed

CVSA Dec – Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Decal

Reg – (unseen here) Registration weight

GVWR – (unseen here) Gross Vehicle Weight Rating

“Kenworth” Truck-tractor

“Utility” Semi-trailer

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This slide shows a five axle configuration with the letters:

X Steering axle

OO Tandem axle (34,000 lbs.) power unit

OO Tandem axle (34,000 lbs.) trailer

The program permits the addition of axle weights and bridge distances to enforce weight law

“Update Weights” button will input data from “Axle weights” configuration window

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Describe commodity, includes shipping number on bill of lading if applicable, consignor (shipper) and consignee (buyer), origin and destination

This depiction shows interstate commerce

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Add Violations

This will bring up another window listing several thousand arrest titles referencing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the Texas Transportation Code

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This is the violation list described in the previous slide with the main program running in the background

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An abbreviated search for the word “flat” will list several choices (5 in all) containing the word “flat”

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In this example the violation is “Flat tire”

The operator chooses the forth entry by moving his cursor over the title

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Once the violation choice is highlighted the operator clicks the “Add to Chosen Items” button to list it at the bottom of the screen and eventually into the main body of the inspection report

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Each violation added to the main body of the report must have a unit assigned to it

Unit 1 typically is the power unit

Unit 2 the articulated vehicle in combination with the power unit

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The operator must know the North American A & B out-of-service criteria and designate (if any) which violations are out-of-service

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Each out-of-service violation requires a disposition code

“A” Repaired at scene /obtained operation authority

“B” Towed /escorted to repair service

“D” Other (list in comments)

“N” Driver OOS

“U” Unknown /Unverified

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An example of out-of-service driver for invalid CDL; includes driver OOS designator, driver OOS until

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WEIGHT LIMITATIONS

• Transportation code Chapter 621

• May be enforced by police officer certified under 644.101 or by weight enforcement officers designated in 621.401

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MISCELLANEOUS

• A Judge is required to promptly report each conviction to DPS

• 50% of fines for violation of more than 5,000 lbs. shall be sent to controller unless offense occurs within 20 miles of international border then the entire amount can be retained for road maintenance.

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PENALTIES FOR WEIGHT VIOLATIONS

• Over tire rating - $100 to $250

• Over group axles - $100 to $250

• Over registered weight – $1 to $200

• Over single/tandem axle – Less than 2,500 - $100 to $500

– 2,500 to 5,000 - $500 to $1,000

– Over 5,000 - $1,000 to $2,500

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Overweight Penalties Continued

• Over gross weight– Less than 2,500 - $100 to $500

– 2,500 to 5,000 - $500 to $1,000

– 5001 to 10,000 - $1,000 to $2,500

– 10,001 to 20,000 - $2,500 to $5,000

– 20,001 to 40,000 - $5,000 to $7,000

– Over 40,000 - $7,000 to $10,000

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ENHANCED PENALTIESNON PERMIT VIOLATIONS

• Third Offense before first anniversary of a previous conviction – Fine doubles

• Operating without a permit where permit would make operation lawful – Additional fine of $500 to $1,000; subsequent violations $2,500 to $5,000

• Operating in excess of 84,000 pounds where load could be dismantled –Additional fines as above

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Steering axle

Tire size /rating (sidewall)

Tandem axles

Without 1547 /2060 permit 34,000 lbs.

With permit 37,400 lbs. (no bridge law)

10,250 lbs. 36,850 lbs. 41,500 lbs.

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51 feet

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37 feet

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36,850 lbs. + 41,500 lbs. = 78,350 lbs. Group weight

36,850 lbs. 41,500 lbs.

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10,250 lbs. + 36,850 lbs. + 41,500 lbs. = 88,600 lbs. Gross weight

36,850 lbs. 41,500 lbs.10,250 lbs.

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There are a number of weight violations in this example, assuming no valid 1547 /2060 overweight permit for the power unit

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41,500 lbs.

Over 34,000 lbs. tandem axle

Arrest Title

How much over? The difference of actual weight (41,500) and tandem law standard (34,000) equals 7,500 lbs. over

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Over 34,000 lbs. tandem axle

Arrest Title

How much over? The difference of actual weight (36,850) and tandem law standard (34,000) equals 2,850 lbs. over

36,850 lbs.

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Over group of axles

Arrest Title

How much over? The difference of actual weight (78,350) and tandem law standard combined for both axles (68,000) equals 10,350 lbs. over

36,850 lbs. 41,500 lbs.

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Over allowable gross weight

Arrest Title

How much over? The difference of actual weight (88,600) and law standard of 80,000 equals 8,600 lbs. over

36,850 lbs. 41,500 lbs.10,250 lbs.

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List of violations for this example Over 34,000 lbs. tandem axle (axles 2 /3) Over 34,000 lbs. tandem axle (axles 4 /5) Over weight group of axles (axle 2 /5) Over allowable gross weight

DPS policy /guideline File heaviest violation File warnings on lighter infractions

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Deferred Disposition

• 49 C.F.R. § 384.226 – The State must not mask, defer imposition of judgment, or allow an individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CDL driver’s conviction for any violation, in any type of motor vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law (except a parking violation) from appearing on the driver’s record, …

• Art. 45.051 - This article does not apply to a violation of a state law or local ordinance relating to motor vehicle control, other than a parking violation…

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T.R.E 404 (b) Extraneous Offense

• Same Transaction – evidence of acts committed in the same transaction is admissible if necessary to the jury’s understanding of the charged offense. Rogers v. State, 853 S.W. 2d 29 (Tex. Crim. App 1993)

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Art. 37.07 – Extraneous offenses and bad acts

• Extraneous unadjudicated offenses are admissible if the judge finds them relevant to sentencing; however, they must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Huizar v. State, 12 S.W. 3d 479 (Tex. Crim App. 2000)

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