TWT H.B. 3252 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS TRANSPORTATION H.B. 3252 By: Finnell 4-5-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Currently, railroads use contract carriers to move their employees from the site of a crew change back to the employees' home terminal. Often the same drivers for the contract carrier make several of these trips in a day causing fatigue for the drivers. This practice creates a potentially hazardous situation for the drivers, the passengers, and the general public travelling the highways. PURPOSE House Bill 3252 will require the adoption of safety rules for the operation of contract carriers designed to carry 15 or fewer passengers who transport operating employees of a railroad. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly grants additional rulemaking authority to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in Subsection (b) of new Section 3A contained in Section 1 of the bill. The rules would prohibit hours of operations, require rest periods for drivers and record keeping for contract carriers. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Article 6675d, Revised Statutes, by adding a Section 3A which would: (a) apply only to contract carriers transporting operating employees of a railroad in a vehicle designed to carry 15 or fewer passengers (b) require DPS to regulate contract carriers by adopting rules including those which would: (1) prohibit a person from operating such vehicles for more than 12 hours in a day; (2) determine a period of operation time that is deemed excessive and require a rest period; (3) require the carrier to keep a record of hours which a vehicle is operated; and (4) include other rules determined necessary to protect the safety of passengers and the general public. SECTION 2. Effective date -- September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.