High Priority Bills and Hot Regulatory Issues Discussed During Last Week's CTA Meetings

Members who attended last week's quarterly policy meetings heard about the high priority bills and regulatory issues that CTA continues to fight for on behalf of members like you. A few of the hot issues discussed are highlighted below. 

Bill that Would Create the First Heavy Duty Smog Check Program

SB 210 is a bill that would create the first smog check program for commercial motor vehicles. The bill was introduced last year and CTA was able to kill it because of their powerful influence in the Sacramento Capitol. When the bill was re-introduced this year, CTA was opposed to the bill unless the author took CTA's amendments, which would remove the burdensome nature of the bill and create a level playing for CTA members. The San Francisco Chronicle recently featured an editorial on the bill and highlighted CTA as one of the well connected opposition. Because of CTA's connections and continual negotiations with the author, the bill now includes CTA's amended language. The amended language in the bill is a major win for CTA members and illustrates CTA's strong presence in the Capitol.

The Continual Efforts to Defend Owner-Operators

CTA continues to fight for small business trucking through the courts and the legislature. CTA and two owner-operators’ lawsuit against California on the federal preemption of the Dynamex “ABC Test” is fully briefed and awaiting a decision on the State’s motion to dismiss. AB 5, the bill that would codify Dynamex into law, has moved to the Senate and will be heard in the Senate Labor Committee in early July. The author of AB 5 has committed to coming to a resolution for the trucking industry. CTA is working the author to include CTA's amended language that would allow owner operators to continue to operate.

DMV Efforts to Address Trucking Industry Specific Issues 

CTA has been working with DMV administration to address the many industry specific issues that impact members on a regular basis. CTA has been able to negotiate lanugage in the Transporation Omnibus Bill, AB 1810, that will streamline the Motor Carrier Permit (MCP) registration and renewal processes.The bill is expected to pass the legislature and be signed into law this year. CTA also worked with DMV on establishing a “Secure File Transfer” (SFT) process for motor carriers to transmit their drivers’ medical certificate. Building off of the CTA led SFT, the DMV recently added an e-mail confirmation response to motor carriers notifying them that the DMV has received the drivers’ medical certificate. The new process eliminates unnecessary time and burdensome paperwork for an employer to spend on tracking driver medical certification. 

Policy Committee Reports
Environmental Policy Committee Report
Highway Policy Committee Report
Kingpin Committee Report 
Safety, Security, and HR Policy Committee Report

Staff Contacts for Committees
Enviromental: Chris Shimoda, cshimoda@caltrux.org
Highway/Safety, Security, & HR: Eric Sauer, esauer@caltrux.org
Kingpin: Matt Roman, mroman@caltrux.org