AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
The Texas Towing and Booting Act does not clarify whether a motor vehicle owned or operated by a franchised automobile dealer transporting a new car to the purchaser is a tow truck. The Act also does not clarify whether a truck that transports motor vehicles for cargo in a prearranged shipping transaction, or for use in mining, drilling, or construction operations, is a tow truck. While the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which is responsible for implementing the Act, does not interpret that these vehicles are tow trucks according to the Act, some law enforcement agencies have cited these vehicles for failing to register with TDLR as tow trucks.
C.S.S.B. 1820 clarifies that the term “tow truck” does not include a truck-trailer combination that is owned or operated by a dealer licensed under Chapter 2301 (Sale or Lease of Motor Vehicles) and used to transport new vehicles during the normal course of a documented transaction in which the dealer is a party and ownership or the right of possession of the transported vehicle is conveyed or transferred; or a car hauler that is used solely to transport, other than in a consent or nonconsent tow, motor vehicles as cargo in the course of a prearranged shipping transaction or for use in mining, drilling, or construction operations.
C.S.S.B. 1820 amends current law relating to the exemption of certain vehicles from towing regulation.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 2308.002(11), Occupations Code, to redefine "tow truck" to provide that the term does not include a truck-trailer combination that is owned or operated by a dealer licensed under Chapter 2301 (Sale or Lease of Motor Vehicles) and used to transport new vehicles during the normal course of a documented transaction in which the dealer is a party and ownership or the right of possession of the transported vehicle is conveyed or transferred; or a car hauler that is used solely to transport, other than in a consent or nonconsent tow, motor vehicles as cargo in the course of a prearranged shipping transaction or for use in mining, drilling, or construction operations.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2015.