H-3382              _______________________________________________

 

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1668

                        _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

 

By Representatives Tanner, C. Smith, Sutherland, Haugen, Zellinsky, Hankins, Holland, J. Williams, Thomas and B. Williams

 

 

Read first time 1/22/86 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to motor freight carriers; amending RCW 81.80.060, 81.80.070, 81.80.150, 81.80.190, 81.80.211, 81.80.260, 81.80.355, 81.80.371, and 81.04.010; adding new sections to chapter 81.80 RCW; repealing RCW 81.80.020 and 81.80.175; and prescribing penalties.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

          It is the intent of the legislature to adopt a new state policy toward motor freight carriers to the end that rates, charges, and rules affecting that industry reflect market place needs.  That policy is intended to:

          (1) Recognize and preserve the inherent advantages of each mode of transportation;

          (2) Promote safe, adequate, economical, and efficient transportation;

          (3) Encourage sound economic conditions in transportation, including sound economic conditions among carriers;

          (4) Encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable rates for transportation, without unreasonable discrimination or unfair or destructive competitive practices;

          (5) Promote cooperation among federal, state, and local agencies, and the officials of federal, state, and local agencies on transportation matters; and

          (6) Encourage fair wages and working conditions in the transportation industry.

          In adopting this new policy, the legislature intends that transportation by Washington intrastate motor freight carriage shall be exempt when similar products and movements are exempt in interstate and foreign commerce, that entry into the field of motor freight transportation within this state shall be eased, and that the administrative regulation of motor freight carriers be reduced to enable the Washington utilities and transportation commission to concentrate more of its time and energies on utility and other rules where the public need is much greater.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

          It is the policy of the state of Washington to promote by impartial regulation competitive and efficient motor freight transportation services in order to:

          (1) Meet the needs of shippers, receivers, and consumers;

          (2) Allow a variety of quality and price options to meet changing market demands and the diverse requirements of the shipping and consuming public;

          (3) Allow the most productive use of equipment and energy resources;

          (4) Enable efficient and well-managed carriers to earn adequate profits, attract capital, and maintain fair wages and working conditions;

          (5) Provide and maintain service to small communities and small shippers;

          (6) Improve and maintain a sound, safe, and competitive privately owned motor carrier system;

          (7) Promote greater participation by minorities in the motor carrier system; and

          (8) Promote intermodal transportation.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

          The provisions of this chapter, except those relating to license, insurance, and safety requirements, and except where specifically otherwise provided, do not apply to the transportation by motor vehicle of the following exempt commodities:

          (1) Ordinary livestock;

          (2) Agricultural or horticultural commodities (other than manufactured products thereof);

          (3) Commodities listed as exempt in the commodity list incorporated in ruling numbered 107, March 19, 1958, bureau of motor carriers, Interstate Commerce Commission, other than frozen fruits, frozen berries, frozen vegetables, cocoa beans, coffee beans, tea, bananas, or hemp, or wool imported from a foreign country, wool tops and noils, or wool waste (carded, spun, woven, or knitted);

          (4) Cooked or uncooked fish, whether breaded or not, or frozen or fresh shellfish, or by-products thereof not intended for human consumption, other than fish or shellfish that have been treated for preserving, such as canned, smoked, pickled, spiced, corned, or kippered products;

          (5) Livestock and poultry feed and agricultural seeds and plants, if such products (excluding products otherwise exempt under this subsection) are transported to a site of agricultural production or to a business enterprise engaged in the sale to agricultural producers of goods used in agricultural production;

          (6) Property (including baggage) as part of a continuous movement which, before or after such part of the continuous movement, has been or will be transported by an air carrier or, to the extent so agreed by the United States and approved by the civil aeronautics board or its successor agency, by a foreign air carrier;

          (7) Property in lieu of transportation by aircraft because of adverse weather conditions or mechanical failure of the aircraft or other causes due to circumstances beyond the control of the carrier or shipper;

          (8) Used pallets and used empty shipping containers, including intermodal cargo containers, and other used shipping devices, other than containers or devices used in the transportation of motor vehicles or parts of motor vehicles;

          (9) Natural crushed, vesicular rock to be used for decorative purposes;

          (10) Wood chips;

          (11) Broken, crushed, or powdered glass;

          (12) Property being transported in a state park or in a national park or national monument;

          (13) Property that is part of a through trailer or flatcar movement when a railroad provides for the through intermodal movement from origin to destination;

          (14) Property being transported for a federal, state, or municipal agency, or division thereof;

          (15) Property being transported without charge for a charitable purpose or for use in a public exhibition; and

          (16) Recyclable materials, meaning waste products for recycling or reuse in the furtherance of recognized pollution control programs, being transported without charge or at a reduced rate.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The provisions of this chapter, except those relating to license, insurance, and safety requirements, and except where specifically otherwise provided, do not apply to:

          (a) A motor vehicle controlled and operated by a farmer and transporting:

          (i) The farmer's agricultural or horticultural commodities and products; or

          (ii) Supplies to the farm of the farmer;

          (b) A motor vehicle controlled and operated by a cooperative association or by a federation of cooperative associations if the federation has no greater power or purposes than a cooperative association, except that if the cooperative association or federation provides transportation for compensation:

          (i) For a nonmember that is not a farmer, cooperative association, federation, or the government of the state of Washington or of the United States, the transportation, except for transportation otherwise exempt under this chapter:

          (A) Shall be limited to transportation incidental to the primary transportation operation of the cooperative association or federation and necessary for its effective performance;

          (B) May not exceed in each fiscal year twenty-three percent of the total transportation of the cooperative association or federation between those places, measured by tonnage; and

          (C) Shall be provided only after the cooperative association or federation notifies the commission of its intent to provide the transportation; and

          (ii) The transportation for all nonmembers may not exceed in each fiscal year, measured by tonnage, the total transportation between those places for the cooperative association or federation and its members during that fiscal year.

          (2) As used in this section, the term "cooperative association" means any association in which farmers act together in processing, preparing for market, handling, or marketing the farm products of persons so engaged, and also means any association in which farmers act together in purchasing, testing, grading, processing, distributing, or furnishing farm supplies or farm business services.  To qualify, such associations shall be operated for the mutual benefit of the members thereof as such producers or purchasers and shall conform to one or both of the following requirements:

          (a) No member of the association may be allowed more than one vote because of the amount of stock or membership capital the member may own in it;

          (b) The association shall not pay dividends on stock or membership capital in excess of eight percent per annum.

          (3) Whether the requirements of subsection (2)(a) or (b) of this section are conformed to, the association shall not deal in farm products, farm supplies, and farm business services with or for nonmembers in an amount greater in value than the total amount of such business transacted by it with or for members.  All business transacted by any cooperative association for or on behalf of the United States, the state of Washington, or any agency or instrumentality thereof shall be disregarded in determining the volume of member and nonmember business transacted by such association.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4 of this act, a cooperative association or a federation of cooperative associations that is required to notify the commission under that section shall prepare and maintain such records relating to transportation provided by the association or federation in such form as the commission may require by rule to carry out the provisions of that section.  The commission, or an employee designated by the commission, may on demand and display of proper credentials inspect and examine the lands, buildings, and equipment of the association or federation, and inspect and copy any record of the association or federation.

          (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4 of this act, the commission may require a cooperative association or federation of cooperative associations described in subsection (1) of this section to file reports with the commission containing answers to questions about transportation provided by the association or federation.

          (3) The commission may bring a civil action to enforce subsections (1) and (2) of this section, or a rule or order of the commission issued under this section, when violated by a cooperative association or federation of cooperative associations described in subsection (1) of this section.

          (4) (a) A person required to make a report to the commission, answer a question, or maintain a record under this section, or an officer, agent, or employee of that person, who:  (i) Does not make the report; (ii) does not specifically, completely, and truthfully answer the question; or (iii) does not maintain the record in the form and manner prescribed by the commission, is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation, and for not more than two hundred fifty dollars for each additional day the violation continues.

          (b) Trial in a civil action under this subsection shall be in the superior court of the county in which:  (i) The cooperative association or federation of cooperative associations has its principal office; (ii) the violation occurred; or (iii) the offender is found.  Process in the action may be served in the county in which the offender is an inhabitant or in which the offender may be found.

          (5) A person, or an officer, employee, or agent of that person, who by any means knowingly and willfully tries to evade compliance with the provisions of this section shall be fined at least two hundred dollars but not more than two thousand dollars for a subsequent violation.

          (6) A person required to make a report to the commission, answer a question, or maintain a record under this section, or an officer, agent, or employee of that person, who:  (a) Willfully does not make that report; (b) willfully does not specifically, completely, and truthfully answer that question within thirty days from the date the commission requires the question to be answered; (c) willfully does not maintain that record in the form and manner prescribed by the commission; (d) knowingly and willfully falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or changes that report or record; (e) knowingly and willfully files a false report or record with the commission under this section; (f) knowingly and willfully makes a false or incomplete entry in that record  about a business-related fact or transaction; or (g) knowingly and willfully maintains a record in violation of a rule or order of the commission issued under this section, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars.

 

        Sec. 6.  Section 1, chapter 33, Laws of 1969 as amended by section 17, chapter 210, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. and RCW 81.80.060 are each amended to read as follows:

          Every person who engages for compensation to perform a combination of services a substantial portion of which includes transportation of property of others, not exempted from regulation by RCW 81.80.040 or by section 3 or 4 of this act, upon the public highways shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the commission as to such transportation and shall not engage upon the same without first having obtained a common carrier or contract carrier permit to do so.  An example of such a combination of services shall include, but not be limited to, the delivery of household appliances for others where the delivering carrier also unpacks or uncrates the appliances and makes the initial installation thereof.  Every person engaging in such a combination of services shall advise the commission what portion of the consideration is intended to cover the transportation service and if the agreement covering the combination of services is in writing, the rate and charge for such transportation shall be set forth therein.  The rates or charges for the transportation services included in such combination of services shall be subject to control and regulation by the commission in the same manner that the rates of common and contract carriers are now controlled and regulated.  Any person engaged in extracting and/or processing and, in connection therewith, hauling materials exclusively for the maintenance, construction, or improvement of a public highway shall not be deemed to be performing a combination of services.

 

        Sec. 7.  Section 81.80.070, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 1, chapter 242, Laws of 1963 and RCW 81.80.070 are each amended to read as follows:

          No "common carrier," "contract carrier," "freight forwarder," or "temporary carrier" shall operate for the transportation of property for compensation in this state without first obtaining from the commission a permit so to do.  No permit may be required for transportation to which the provisions of this chapter are declared inapplicable by RCW 81.80.040 or by section 3 or 4 of this act.  Permits heretofore issued or hereafter issued to any carrier, shall be exercised by said carrier to the fullest extent so as to render reasonable service to the public.  Applications for common or contract carrier permits or extensions thereof shall be on file for a period of at least thirty days prior to the granting thereof unless the commission finds that special conditions require the earlier granting thereof.  The commission shall render an administratively final decision granting or denying an application for a permit within one hundred twenty days of the date the application is filed.

          A permit or extension thereof shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operations covered by the application, if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the services proposed and conform to the provisions of this chapter and the requirements, rules, and regulations of the commission thereunder((, and that such operations will be consistent with the public interest, and, in the case of common carriers, that the same are or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity, otherwise such application shall be denied)).  If any protest to an application for a permit or extension thereof is filed asserting that the applicant is not fit, willing, and able to perform the services proposed, the burden of proving such assertions is on the person or persons filing such protest.

          Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to confer upon any person or persons the exclusive right or privilege of transporting property for compensation over the public highways of the state.

 

        Sec. 8.  Section 81.80.150, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 2, chapter 116, Laws of 1981 and RCW 81.80.150 are each amended to read as follows:

          The commission shall make, fix, construct, compile, promulgate, publish, and distribute tariffs containing compilations of rates, charges, classifications, rules, and regulations to be used by all common carriers other than those engaged in transportation to which the provisions of this chapter are declared inapplicable by RCW 81.80.040 or by section 3 or 4 of this act.  In compiling such tariffs it shall include within any given tariff compilation such carriers, groups of carriers, commodities, or geographical areas as it determines shall be in the public interest.  Such compilations and publications may be made by the commission by compiling the rates, charges, classifications, rules, and regulations now in effect, and as they may be amended and altered from time to time after notice and hearing, by issuing and distributing revised pages or supplements to such tariffs or reissues thereof in accordance with the orders of the commission:  PROVIDED, That the commission, upon good cause shown, may establish temporary rates, charges, or classification changes which may be made permanent only after publication in an applicable tariff for not less than sixty days, and determination by the commission thereafter that the rates, charges or classifications are just, fair, and reasonable:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That temporary rates shall not be made permanent except upon notice and hearing if within sixty days from date of publication, a shipper or common carrier, or representative of either, shall file with the commission a protest alleging such temporary rates to be unjust, unfair, or unreasonable.  For purposes of this proviso, the publication of temporary rates in the tariff shall be deemed adequate public notice.  Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the commission from proceeding on its own motion, upon notice and hearing, to fix and determine just, fair, and reasonable rates, charges, and classifications.  The proper tariff, or tariffs, applicable to a carrier's operations shall be available to the public at each agency and office of all common carriers operating within this state.  Such compilations and publications shall be sold by the commission for a fee to be determined annually and not to exceed the cost of this service.  Corrections to such publications shall be furnished to all subscribers to tariffs in the form of corrected pages to the tariffs, supplements, or reissues thereof.  In addition to the initial charge for each tariff, the commission shall charge an annual maintenance fee not to exceed the cost of issuing corrections or supplements and mailing them to subscribers:  PROVIDED, That copies may be furnished free to other regulatory bodies and departments of government and to colleges, schools, and libraries.  All copies of the compilations, whether sold or given free, shall be issued and distributed under rules and regulations to be fixed by the commission:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the commission may by order authorize common carriers to publish and file tariffs with the commission and be governed thereby in respect to certain designated commodities and services when, in the opinion of the commission, it is impractical for the commission to make, fix, construct, compile, publish, and distribute tariffs covering such commodities and services.

 

        Sec. 9.  Section 81.80.190, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 81.80.190 are each amended to read as follows:

          The commission shall ((in the granting of permits to)) require all "common carriers" and "contract carriers" ((under this chapter require such carriers)) to either procure and file liability and property damage insurance from a company licensed to write such insurance in the state of Washington, or deposit such security, for such limits of liability and upon such terms and conditions as the commission shall determine to be necessary for the reasonable protection of the public against damage and injury for which such carrier may be liable by reason of the operation of any motor vehicle.

          In fixing the amount of said insurance policy or policies, or deposit of security, the commission shall give due consideration to the character and amount of traffic and the number of persons affected and the degree of danger which the proposed operation involves.

 

        Sec. 10.  Section 81.80.211, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 81.80.211 are each amended to read as follows:

          The commission may adopt rules and regulations relating to the hours of duty of motor carrier drivers and operators, including those engaged in transportation to which the provisions of this chapter are declared inapplicable by RCW 81.80.040 or by section 3 or 4 of this act.

 

        Sec. 11.  Section 81.80.260, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 3, chapter 69, Laws of 1967 and RCW 81.80.260 are each amended to read  as follows:

          It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any vehicle at the same time in more than one class of operation, except upon approval of the commission and a finding that such operation will be in the public interest.  However, a motor freight carrier providing transportation exempt from the jurisdiction of the commission under section 3 of this act may transport property under that section in the same vehicle, and at the same time as property that the carrier is authorized to transport under a permit issued under RCW 81.80.070.  Such transportation shall not affect the unregulated status of the exempt property or the regulated status of the property that the carrier is authorized to transport under the permit.  Nothing contained in this chapter may be construed to prohibit the issuance of a "common carrier," "contract carrier," or "temporary carrier" permit, or extension thereof, to a "private carrier" upon proper application for the permit and a finding by the commission as required by RCW 81.80.070.

          No "exempt carrier" as such shall transport property for compensation except as hereinabove provided.

 

        Sec. 12.  Section 81.80.355, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 81.80.355 are each amended to read as follows:

          Any person not holding a permit authorizing him to operate as a common carrier, contract carrier, or temporary carrier for the transportation of property for compensation in this state, or ((an)) any  exempt carrier, who displays on any building, vehicle, billboard or in any manner, any advertisement of, or by circular, letter, newspaper, magazine, poster, card, or telephone directory, advertises the transportation of property for compensation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable as such.  However, nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit advertising by any person offering transportation to which the provisions of this chapter are declared inapplicable by RCW 81.80.040 or by section 3 or 4 of this act.

 

        Sec. 13.  Section 9, chapter 59, Laws of 1963 and RCW 81.80.371 are each amended to read as follows:

          It shall be unlawful for any carrier to perform a transportation service for compensation upon the public highways of this state without first having secured appropriate authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission, if such authority is required, and without first having registered such authority, if any, with the commission.

          It shall also be unlawful for a carrier to perform a transportation service for compensation on the public highways of this state as an interstate carrier of commodities included in the exemptions provided in section ((203(b))) 10526 of the Interstate Commerce Act without having first registered as such a carrier with the commission.

          Such registration shall be granted upon application, without hearing, upon payment of the appropriate filing fee prescribed by this chapter for other applications for operating authority.

 

        Sec. 14.  Section 81.04.010, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 2, chapter 13, Laws of 1981 and RCW 81.04.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this title, unless specially defined otherwise or unless the context indicates otherwise:

          "Commission" means the utilities and transportation commission.

          "Commissioner" means one of the members of such commission.

          "Corporation" includes a corporation, company, association, or joint stock association.

          "Person" includes an individual, a firm, or copartnership.

          "Street railroad" includes every railroad by whatsoever power operated, or any extension or extensions, branch or branches thereof, for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for hire, being mainly upon, along, above, or below any street, avenue, road, highway, bridge, or public place within any one city or town, and includes all equipment, switches, spurs, tracks, bridges, right of trackage, subways, tunnels, stations, terminals, and terminal facilities of every kind used, operated, controlled, or owned by or in connection with any such street railroad, within this state.

          "Street railroad company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any street railroad or any cars or other equipment used thereon or in connection therewith within this state.

          "Railroad" includes every railroad, other than street railroad, by whatsoever power operated for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for hire, with all bridges, ferries, tunnels, equipment, switches, spurs, tracks, stations, and terminal facilities of every kind used, operated, controlled, or owned by or in connection with any such railroad.

          "Railroad company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, or person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating, controlling, or managing any railroad or any cars or other equipment used thereon or in connection therewith within this state.

          "Express company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, who shall engage in or transact the business of carrying any freight, merchandise, or property for hire on the line of any common carrier operated in this state.

          "Common carrier" includes all railroads, railroad companies, street railroads, street railroad companies, steamboat companies, express companies, car companies, sleeping car companies, freight companies, freight line companies, and every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town, owning, operating, managing, or controlling any such agency for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for hire within this state.

          "Vessel" includes every species of watercraft, by whatsoever power operated, for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for hire over and upon the waters within this state, excepting all towboats, tugs, scows, barges, and lighters, and excepting rowboats and sailing boats under twenty gross tons burden, open steam launches of five tons gross and under, and vessels under five tons gross propelled by gas, fluid, naphtha, or electric motors.

          "Steamboat company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, controlling, leasing, operating, or managing any vessel over and upon the waters of this state.

          "Transportation of property" includes any service in connection with the receiving, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, storage, and handling of the property transported, and the transmission of credit.

          "Transportation of persons" includes any service in connection with the receiving, carriage, and delivery of the person transported and his baggage and all facilities used, or necessary to be used in connection with the safety, comfort, and convenience of the person transported.

          "Public service company" includes every common carrier except for motor freight carriers engaged exclusively in operation of motor vehicles exempt from chapter 81.80 RCW.

          The term "service" is used in this title in its broadest and most inclusive sense.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 15.  The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

                   (1) Section 81.80.020, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 81.80.020; and

          (2) Section 5, chapter 242, Laws of 1963 and RCW 81.80.175.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 16.    If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.