79R5725 JD-F

By:  Staples                                                      S.B. No. 1074


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Public Safety or the public safety director to adopt rules in connection with commercial motor vehicles. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 644.053(a) and (b), Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows: (a) A rule adopted under this chapter may not: (1) prevent an intrastate operator from operating a vehicle up to 12 hours following eight consecutive hours off; (2) require a person to meet the medical standards provided in the federal motor carrier safety regulations if the person: (A) was regularly employed in this state as a commercial motor vehicle operator in intrastate commerce before August 28, 1989; and (B) is not transporting property that requires a hazardous material placard; (3) require a person who complies with each hourly requirement in 49 C.F.R. Section 395.1(e) and operates within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work-reporting location to maintain a driver's record of duty status as described by 49 C.F.R. Section 395.8, provided that the person maintains time records in compliance with 49 C.F.R. Section 395.1(e)(5) and documents that verify the truth and accuracy of the time records such as [government form, separate company form, operator's record of duty status, or operator's daily log for operations within a 150-mile radius of the normal work-reporting location if a general record of an operator's hours of service can be compiled from]: (A) business records maintained by the owner that provide the date, time, and location of the delivery of a product or service; or (B) documents required to be maintained by law, including delivery tickets or sales invoices, that provide the date of delivery and the quantity of merchandise delivered; or (4) impose during a planting or harvesting season maximum driving and on-duty times on an operator of a vehicle transporting an agricultural commodity in intrastate commerce for agricultural purposes from the source of the commodity to the first place of processing or storage or the distribution point for the commodity, if the place is located within 150 air miles of the source. (b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(3)(A), an owner's time [business] records must at a minimum [generally] include: (1) the time an operator reports for duty each day; (2) the number of hours an operator is on duty each day; (3) the time an operator is released from duty each day; and (4) an operator's signed statement in compliance with 49 C.F.R. Section 395.8(j)(2). SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.