By: Johnson, Paxton  S.B. No. 860
         (In the Senate - Filed February 26, 2021; March 11, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
  March 26, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 26, 2021,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 860 By:  Nichols
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the exclusion of certain car haulers from the
  definition of tow truck for purposes of certain laws regulating
  motor vehicle towing.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 2308.002(11), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (11)  "Tow truck" means a motor vehicle, including a
  wrecker, equipped with a mechanical device used to tow, winch, or
  otherwise move another motor vehicle.  The term does not include:
                     (A)  a motor vehicle owned and operated by a
  governmental entity, including a public school district;
                     (B)  a motor vehicle towing:
                           (i)  a race car;
                           (ii)  a motor vehicle for exhibition; or
                           (iii)  an antique motor vehicle;
                     (C)  a recreational vehicle towing another
  vehicle;
                     (D)  a motor vehicle used in combination with a
  tow bar, tow dolly, or other mechanical device if the vehicle is not
  operated in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise;
                     (E)  a motor vehicle that is controlled or
  operated by a farmer or rancher and used for towing a farm vehicle;
                     (F)  a motor vehicle that:
                           (i)  is owned or operated by an entity the
  primary business of which is the rental of motor vehicles; and
                           (ii)  only tows vehicles rented by the
  entity;
                     (G)  a truck-trailer combination that is owned or
  operated by a dealer licensed under Chapter 2301 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
                     (H)  a car hauler that is used solely to
  transport, other than in a consent or nonconsent tow, motor
  vehicles as cargo:
                           (i)  in the course of a prearranged shipping
  or delivery transaction, including a commercial transaction for
  transport arranged or authorized by one business for the shipping
  or delivery of a damaged vehicle to another business; or
                           (ii)  for use in mining, drilling, or
  construction operations.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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