SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 65
(By Senators Facemyer, Bailey and Unger)
Urging the United States Congress pass H. R. 3098 to restore and
update farm vehicle exemptions to the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Regulations administered by the U. S. Department of
Transportation.
Whereas, Farmers hauling their own products in their own
vehicles, many in close proximity to their own property and only on
a seasonal basis, should not be forced to comply with unnecessarily
and often burdensome federal regulation; and
Whereas, Many states find that exemptions written for farm
trucks twenty years ago are no longer adequate for farmers to haul
their own products to market free of unnecessarily burdensome
federal regulation; and
Whereas, The enforcement of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations varies across the country, and changing the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations definition of a commercial motor
vehicle from 10,001 pounds to 26,001 pounds, provides much needed
uniformity between the states; and
Whereas, A national threshold of 26,001 pounds would resolve
an onerous burden that arises when a farmer crosses the border from
one state to another; and
Whereas, Under current regulation, crossing state lines changes the classification from interstate carrier to interstate
carrier, triggering commercial requirements, even if the truck has
traveled only a short distance and both states recognize the 26,001
pound exemption; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby urges the United States Congress
to pass H. R. 3098 to restore and update farm vehicle exemptions to
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations administered by the U.
S. Department of Transportation; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the members of the
West Virginia delegation to the United States Congress.