AN ACT Relating to motor carrier safety and weight control; amending RCW 81.80.010, 81.80.040, 81.80.070, 81.80.300, and 81.04.390; adding new sections to chapter 43.43 RCW; 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 43.43 RCW to read as follows:

All powers, duties, and functions of the utilities and transportation commission that relate to safety and weight regulations for motor carriers are transferred to the Washington state patrol.

Sec. 2. Section 81.80.010, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 1, chapter 71, Laws of 1982 and RCW 81.80.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Person" means and includes an individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, or association or their lessees, trustees, or receivers.

(2) "Motor vehicle" means any truck, trailer, semitrailer, tractor, dump truck which uses a hydraulic or mechanical device to dump or discharge its load, or any self-propelled or motor-driven vehicle used upon any public highway of this state for the purpose of transporting property, but not including baggage, mail, and express transported on the vehicles of auto transportation companies carrying passengers.

(3) "Public highway" means every street, road, or highway in this state.

(4) "Common carrier" means any person who undertakes to transport property for the general public by motor vehicle for compensation, whether over regular or irregular routes, or regular or irregular schedules, including motor vehicle operations of other carriers by rail or water and of express or forwarding companies.

(5) "Contract carrier" includes all motor vehicle operators not included under the terms "common carrier" and "private carrier" as ((~~herein~~)) defined in ((~~paragraph (4) and paragraph (6)~~)) subsections (4) and (7) of this section, and further includes any person who under special and individual contracts or agreements transports property by motor vehicle for compensation.

(6) "Commercial carrier" means any person operating a vehicle in furtherance of a commercial enterprise.

(7) A "private carrier" is a person who transports by his own motor vehicle, with or without compensation therefor, property which is owned or is being bought or sold by such person, or property of which such person is the seller, purchaser, lessee, or bailee where such transportation is incidental to and in furtherance of some other primary business conducted by such person in good faith.

((~~(7)~~)) (8) "Motor carrier" means and includes "common carrier," "contract carrier," "commercial carrier," "private carrier," and "exempt carrier" as herein defined.

((~~(8)~~)) (9) "Exempt carrier" means any person operating a vehicle exempted from certain provisions of this chapter under RCW 81.80.040.

((~~(9)~~)) (10) "Vehicle" means every device capable of being moved upon a public highway and in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human or animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rail or tracks.

((~~(10)~~)) (11) "Commercial zone" means an area encompassing one or more cities or towns and environs adjacent thereto established pursuant to RCW 81.80.400 as now or hereafter amended.

((~~(11)~~)) (12) "Terminal area" means an area including one or more cities or towns and environs adjacent thereto established pursuant to RCW 81.80.400 as now or hereafter amended.

((~~(12)~~)) (13) "Common carrier" and "contract carrier" include persons engaged in the business of providing, contracting for, or undertaking to provide transportation of property for compensation over the public highways of the state of Washington as brokers or forwarders.

Sec. 3. Section 81.80.040, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 1, chapter 171, Laws of 1984 and RCW 81.80.040 are each amended to read as follows:

The provisions of this chapter, except where specifically otherwise provided, and except the provisions providing for licenses, safety, and regulation of hazardous materials, shall not apply to:

(1) Motor vehicles when operated in transportation exclusively within the corporate limits of any city or town of less than ten thousand population unless contiguous to a city or town of ten thousand population or over, nor between contiguous cities or towns both or all of which are less than ten thousand population;

(2) Motor vehicles when operated in transportation wholly within the corporate limits of cities or towns of ten thousand or more but less than thirty thousand population, or between such cities or towns when contiguous, as to which the commission, after investigation and the issuance of an order thereon, has determined that no substantial public interest exists which requires that such transportation be subject to regulation under this chapter;

(3) Motor vehicles when transporting exclusively the United States mail or in the transportation of newspapers or periodicals;

(4) Motor vehicles owned and operated by the United States, the state of Washington, or any county, city, town, or municipality therein, or by any department of them, or either of them;

(5) Motor vehicles specially constructed for towing disabled vehicles or wrecking and not otherwise used in transporting goods for compensation;

(6) Motor vehicles normally owned and operated by farmers in the transportation of their own farm, orchard, or dairy products, including livestock and plant or animal wastes, from point of production to market, or in the infrequent or seasonal transportation by one farmer for another farmer, if their farms are located within twenty miles of each other, of products of the farm, orchard, or dairy, including livestock and plant or animal wastes, or of supplies or commodities to be used on the farm, orchard, or dairy;

(7) Motor vehicles when transporting exclusively water in connection with construction projects only;

(8) Motor vehicles of less than 8,000 pounds gross vehicle weight when transporting exclusively legal documents, pleadings, process, correspondence, depositions, briefs, medical records, photographs, books or papers, cash or checks, when moving shipments of the documents described at the direction of an attorney as part of providing legal services.

Sec. 4. 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," 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 "private carrier" may ever be required to obtain a permit from the commission for operation within this state but may be required to pay safety regulatory fees imposed by the Washington state patrol on other motor carriers. 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.

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.

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. 5. Section 81.80.300, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 152, chapter 7, Laws of 1985 and RCW 81.80.300 are each amended to read as follows:

The commission shall prescribe an identification cab card and identification decal or stamp or number which must be carried within the cab of each motive power vehicle of each motor carrier required to have a permit under this chapter.

No "private carrier" may ever be required to obtain an identification cab card or identification decal or stamp or number, but may be required to pay safety regulatory fees imposed by the Washington state patrol on other motor carriers.

The identification cab card and the decal or stamp or number provided for herein may be in such form and contain such information as required by the commission.

It shall be unlawful for any "common carrier" or "contract carrier" to operate any motor vehicle within this state unless there is carried within the cab of the motive power vehicle, either operating as a solo vehicle or in combination with trailers, the identification cab card and decal or stamp or number required by this section and the payment by such carrier of a total fee of three dollars for each such decal or stamp or number plus the applicable gross weight fee prescribed by RCW 81.80.320: PROVIDED, That as to equipment operated between points in this state and points outside the state exclusively in interstate commerce, and as to equipment operated between points in this state and points outside the state in interstate commerce as well as points within this state in intrastate commerce, the commission may adopt rules and regulations specifying an alternative schedule of fees to that specified in RCW 81.80.320 as it may find to be reasonable and specifying the method of evidencing payment of such fees.

The commission may adopt rules and regulations imposing a reduced schedule of fees for short term operations, requiring reports of carriers, and imposing such conditions as the public interest may require with respect to the operation of such vehicles.

The commission shall not be required to collect the excise tax prescribed by RCW 82.44.020 for any fees collected under this chapter.

The decal or stamp or number required herein shall be issued annually under the rules and regulations of the commission, and shall be affixed to the identification cab card required by this section not later than February 1st of each year: PROVIDED, That such decal or stamp or number may be issued for the ensuing calendar year on and after the first day of November preceding and may be used from the date of issue until February 1st of the succeeding calendar year for which the same was issued.

It shall be unlawful for the owner of said permit, his agent, servant or employee, or any other person to use or display any identification cab card and decal or stamp or number, the permit number or other insignia of authority from the commission after said permit has expired, been canceled or disposed of, or to operate any vehicle under permit without such identification cab card and decal or stamp or number.

The commission shall collect all fees provided in this section, and all such fees shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the public service revolving fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 43.43 RCW to read as follows:

The Washington state patrol shall enforce the provisions of Title 46 RCW, chapters 82.12 through 82.38 RCW, and all other acts of this state affecting motor carriers, the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in some other officer or tribunal. Any officer of the Washington state patrol may, without a warrant, arrest any person found violating in his presence any provision of Title 46 RCW, chapters 82.12 through 82.38 RCW, or any rule or regulation adopted by the chief of the Washington state patrol.

Sec. 7. Section 81.04.390, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 5, chapter 104, Laws of 1980 and RCW 81.04.390 are each amended to read as follows:

Every person who, either individually, or acting as an officer or agent of a corporation other than a motor carrier or a public service company, violates any provision of this title, or fails to observe, obey, or comply with any order made by the commission under this title, so long as the same is or remains in force, or who procures, aids, or abets any such corporation in its violation of this title, or in its failure to obey, observe, or comply with any such order, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor((~~, except that a violation pertaining to equipment on motor carriers transporting hazardous material is a misdemeanor~~)).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. 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.