Texas Legislature advances bills to widen truck enforcement

Activity afoot at the Texas Legislature would open the door to more local police enforcing commercial vehicle safety standards.

Currently, the Texas Department of Public Safety is solely responsible for enforcing overweight rules. Certain exceptions are made for select counties and cities that include Austin and Kyle. Overweight fines range from $100 to $10,000, depending on how many pounds a truck is overweight.

Orange County

House lawmakers voted 125-21 to advance to the Senate a bill that would add locales in Orange County to the list.

HB2901 would permit police in the cities of Orange, West Orange, Bridge City, and Vidor to enforce overweight rules.

Vidor Chief of Police Rod Carroll recently told lawmakers the city located along Interstate 10 needs truck enforcement authority due to the Texas DPS redirecting resources to south Texas to help with “the current crisis at the border.”

“This has caused a decreased enforcement of commercial vehicle traffic standards and a lack of resources to investigate commercial vehicle accidents,” Carroll told the House Transportation Committee.

He also cited commercial vehicles taking local routes to avoid inspection as justification for the expanded enforcement pursuit.

Dana Moore of the Texas Trucking Association voiced concerns about small police department practices.

“When you have a situation where an officer in the program does not need probable cause, and you’ve got four or five cities in this one county, a driver could be stopped all the time in the county simply because they are a truck.”

HB2901 is in the Senate Transportation Committee.

Waller County

The Senate voted to advance a bill that would expand enforcement efforts in Waller County.

Specifically, SB323 would permit the sheriff’s department to apply for certification to enforce truck rules.

The county northwest of Houston has four major corridors, including Farm to Market 359 and 362, Interstate 10, and U.S. 290.

A bill analysis states that many commercial vehicles use these corridors to travel through the county, which does not have the authority to enforce certain truck safety regulations while surrounding counties do have such authority.

Advocates say that expanding authorization for truck enforcement is needed because DPS officers simply do not have the resources to continually police affected areas.

The bill has moved to the House Transportation Committee. An identical House bill, HB1967, received a hearing on Wednesday, May 3, in the House Transportation Committee.

Montgomery County

Also receiving consideration Wednesday in the House Transportation Committee is a bill to provide the same authorization for the sheriff’s department in neighboring Montgomery County.

HB1096 would permit the county constable’s office and the sheriff’s department to apply for certification to enforce truck rules.

Montgomery County Deputy Eric Gray told lawmakers something needs to be done.

“Montgomery County has a commercial motor vehicle problem,” Gray testified. “One of the main reasons is the reduction in commercial vehicle enforcement.”

He pointed out to committee members despite the fact the county is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation there were fewer truck inspections performed a year ago than in 2017.

“With that type of growth comes a significant increase in commercial motor vehicle traffic, and yet enforcement activity in this area has decreased.”

Despite the decreased enforcement, Gray added that the county is above the national average for serious truck violations.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, said with more officers stationed around the south Texas border, the bill offers a step in the right direction to improve truck enforcement efforts.

TXTA’s Dana Moore reiterated his group’s concern about local enforcement authority.

The committee did not vote on the bill.

City of Mesquite

The Senate voted unanimously to approve a bill to permit police officers in the city of Mesquite to enforce truck rules.

SB540 would authorize police in the Dallas area locale to apply for certification to enforce commercial vehicle safety standards.

The bill awaits consideration in the House Transportation Committee.

2019 enforcement laws

The statehouse pursuits follow action taken during the previous legislative session to expand the list of law enforcement agencies to enforce truck rules.

Since 2019, law enforcement officers in the city of Jacksonville have been authorized to carry out truck enforcement.

Certain police officers in the Permian Basin are authorized to be certified by the state to inspect trucks. In addition to greater enforcement efforts in West Texas, the 4-year-old rule includes the South Texas locale of McMullen County.

Advocates said more truck enforcement is needed for the areas of high oil and gas production. They cite bridge crashes, overweight and overloaded trucks, and other safety issues. LL

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