Motor carriers: construction trucking services.

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to regulate the safe operation of specified vehicles, including commercial motor vehicles and trailer and semitrailer commercial vehicle combinations owned and operated by motor carriers. Existing law also requires every motor carrier of property to comply with specified safety, permit, and liability insurance regulations and to pay the fees required by these provisions. Existing law also prohibits a motor carrier of property from contracting or subcontracting with, or otherwise engaging the services of, another motor carrier of property, until the contracted motor carrier of property provides certification in the manner prescribed by the above provisions, of compliance with safety inspection, certificate, permit, and financial responsibility requirements. A violation of those provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would apply this prohibition to a broker of construction trucking services, as defined, and would prohibit that broker from furnishing construction transportation services to any construction project unless it has secured a surety bond of not less than $15,000 that meets specified requirements. The bill would make a broker of construction trucking services who violates these provisions guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $5,000. The bill would also create a rebuttable presumption in any civil action brought against a broker of construction trucking services by a motor carrier of property in dump truck equipment with whom the broker contracted during any period of time in which the broker did not have a surety bond in violation of the above-described provisions, that the broker failed to pay to the motor carrier the amount due and owing. By expanding the scope of an existing crime and creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.