California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

The 2nd District Court of Appeal recently ruled that employers must provide employees with breaks, but do not have to make sure employees take meal and rest breaks.

In the case of Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, 2010 Cal. App. Unpub., the court’s ruling limited meal and rest break class actions by concluding that the employee’s meal and rest break claims were not appropriate for class certification.

We would like to thank the following members amd affiliates for their contributions to support the Annual Board & Membership Meeting in November at the La Quinta Spa & Club.

• Ugalde Trucking and Dan Ugalde for the $1,000
• State Fund and Stewart Holt for the $2,000
• Armstrong & Associates and Dan Bertrand for the $1,600
• AADT for $2,000

On September 29 in the later part of the afternoon, we heard from author Assembly Member Kevin De Leon’s office that the Governor signed AB 145 at around 4:00 p.m. This concept will finally become law on January 1, 2011. And what was old will be new again. The final chaptered version can be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_145&sess=CUR&house=B&author=de_leon

On pages 8-11, CTN Magazine, October 2010,  is CDTOA’s recommendations for the November ballot. We for the first time in 20-years are taking hard positions on both the candidates (pro-business) and the many difficult to understand propositions. As part of our recommendations, we will try to help explain the reasons why we support each candidate and like or hate each proposition. It is intended to merely be a starting point for you to work from. All election recommendations are based upon info from a variety of sources, particularly the CA Chamber of Commerce, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and the Orange County Register along with some keen insider knowledge. These are only our recommendations, but they are solid, at least in our opinion. Make your vote count!

In what some are calling a political deal with the devil, on October 7, CARB Chair Mary Nichols and Associated General Contractors America (AGC-A) counsel, Mike Kennedy via a conference call, explained this “new deal” concerning the off-road diesel engine rule here. The AGC has apparently single-handedly rescued California, and more importantly the national construction industry from the evil clutches of CARB’s worst (so far) scientifically modeled emissions inventory based rule, referred to as the off-road diesel engine rule.

CARB Fraud – How incompetent can a government agency be and still exist. See Lois Henry’s story on page 13, CTN Oct. 2010

The CA Budget Deal exemplifies the true problems this state faces in the future. See page 23,CTN Oct. 2010

On August 12th, the CDTOA sponsored Broker bill, AB 145, unanimously passed (64-0) off the Assembly Floor and was headed to the Governor for his signature, a process that sometimes takes at least two weeks to do. This is referred to as the enrollment process. The bill received not one “no” vote during the entire two-year legislative process, which generally is a very good sign for a signature by the governor.
On August 25th we received notice from the Tracking Notification service that “AB 145: Motor carriers: construction trucking services”, was “Enrolled and to the Governor at 2:50 p.m.” that day.

State’s SRP Members Who Were Lifers, Are Finally Outed
I hope by now that all of you are aware that the lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) over a year ago on behalf of our industry (the plaintiffs) against the UC School system and the California legislature is doing exactly what it was intended to do, expose the dishonesty within the state Scientific Review Panel (SRP) on Toxic Air Contaminants (TAC) and CARB.

A proposal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff to tighten particulate matter (PM) standards both large PM10, small PM2.5 and a new almost ridiculous concept, “light extinction” yes visual impairment (I’m not kidding here) recently emerged. The report is now being packaged and sent to the head of the EPA (Lisa Jackson) to justify “new” particulate matter regulations not just for California but the entire U.S.

President Obama in early September used three separate public forums to promote the need for increased federal investment in the nation’s transportation infrastructure to create jobs and generate long-term economic growth.

Bill Sails Through the Legislature Unopposed – Now Sitting on the Governor’s Desk

On August 9th our broker bill moved off the Senate Floor with a unanimous vote (of 34-0), and on August 12th the Assembly concurred, again with a unanimous vote (of 64-0).  The bill will now head to the Governor’s office for his signature, where he will have 30 days in which to sign or veto the bill. CDTOA is particularly proud of the fact that AB 145 had bipartisan support throughout its entire two-year legislative process, never receiving a single “no” vote. Generally such bipartisan bills are likely to be signed by the Governor.

On August 11th, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced that it is stopping project awards on nearly $3 billion in new work, effective that day, and may have difficulty in making progress payments on the $9.5 billion of existing projects by September 20th. Caltrans estimates this action will result in 50,000 lost jobs that would have been created to complete these projects. If they are unable to make progress payments on time there will be millions of dollars lost to new work to meet the interest costs of delayed reimbursements.

The announcement was made in a Sacramento press conference, followed by a conference call with the three road builder associations in the state, SCCA, EUCA and AGC.

The reason for this drastic action is the lack of state budget authority to expend funds. Caltrans is still receiving gas tax and other fund payments from a large variety of sources, but, without budget authority, those funds cannot be expended.

Included in the list of projects being held up by the budget is $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2010-11 jobs already approved by the California Transportation Commission; $937 million in projects with funding from the previous fiscal year budget that have not yet been awarded; and $647 million in Prop 1B work that cannot proceed without additional bond sales. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer will not proceed with bond sales until a budget is passed, a classical Catch-22 of course.

Details of this action, including a partial list of projects affected is outlined in a memorandum from the new Caltrans Director Cindy McKim to Dale Bonner, Secretary of the Dept. of Business, Transportation and Housing. (see letter on page 13).

As of August 12th, California’s budget is already 43 days late and it does not appear that any deal is imminent between the three negotiating parties – the Democrats, Republicans, and Governor Schwarzenegger. While some around the Capitol still believe a deal will be reached prior to this year’s bill deadline of August 31st, others tend to believe that a deal won’t be agreed to until after this year’s elections in early November given the political implications of a deal. If this is the case, the timeline for a deal becomes very unclear and a budget could be many months away.

On August 10th, President Barack Obama signed into law a package of $26 billion in aid for state and local governments, following House approval of the package the prior day. The local governments bail-out package was timed nicely with an article in USA Today (see page 23), that reported on a study which showed that federal government workers now make twice as much as what a private sector worker makes when their benefits are included. An average government work gets four times or 400% more benefits a year than does the private sector worker.

The events are scheduled from September 19-23. This is a free educational event, however registration is required. CDTOA and AADT will be staffing a booth at this event.

The CHP Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit
On September 19th, 2010, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be hosting a Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit (CVSS), from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (Sunday).

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit (CVSS) is a free educational seminar, sponsored by the CHP. This year, the summit will continue to focus on current safety issues, regulatory requirements and provide a forum for open and candid discussions with state and federal representatives on commercial vehicle safety and security issues. The CHP will also present the first annual Safe Transportation Achievement Recognition (STAR) Award during this year’s Summit.

The Safety Summit is designed for all segments of the motor carrier industry; property (including construction) and passenger carriers. During the Summit, the CHP will coordinate the “break out session” theme for discussing state and federal issues relating to transportation, such as:
    Training Safe Drivers
    CSA 2010
    CARB Air Emissions Programs
    Motor Coach Safety Act
    Hour-of-Service (HOS Inter- & Intrastate)
    HazMat Preparation & Shipping Overview
    BIT & CSAT Inspection Procedures for Trucks and Buses
    Oversized/Overweight Loads & Variance Procedures
    Operating Authority/Credentialing

This is a free educational event, however registration is required. Visit CDTOA for additional Information: (http://cdtoa.org/industry/973-chp-a-csat)

Following the CHP CVSS, the CVSA will be hosting its annual conference beginning September 20th through September 23 from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. (Monday – Wednesday). Both will be held at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel property: (See below)

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) 2010 Annual Conference
This year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) annual conference will also be held at the Anaheim Marriott (see below for lodging information). The conference is scheduled from September 20th through September 23rd. The CVSA is hosting a North American Cargo Securement Public Forum that will take place on Sunday, September 19th. As soon as the times are made available for the Conference we will let you know. The CVSA Annual Conference is rarely held in California, so this is a good opportunity to take advantage of this event while it’s here.

Hotel Information
Hotel reservations should be made on or after June 1, 2010, by contacting the Anaheim Marriott directly at (714) 750-8000, or on their website at The Marriott. Please identify yourself as attending the CVSS to receive the group rate. The Anaheim Marriott is located at 700 West Convention Way, Anaheim CA.
For additional inquiries, send them to:
California Highway Patrol
Commercial Vehicle Section
601 N 7th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

For direct inquiries, call CHP’s Commercial Vehicle Section at (916) 843-3400.

It’s no secret that the average age of our owner-operator member trucks is about 1990 model year, which means they are all or at least mostly pre-electronic engine models. There had been a number of questions about the perception that CDTOA was negotiating with CARB on rule changes that would eliminate all 1993 and older engines.

CARB staff announced in late July that the hearing which was scheduled for September on the Truck Rule changes has now been pushed to November 18 in Sacramento. Staff indicated that the primary reason for this delay was to better refine their estimate of the emissions reductions resulting from the economic collapse. The analysis to date was sufficient for staff to tell the Board and stakeholders that it can justify pushing the particulate matter deadline from 2014 out to 2017 for fleets of four or more and slowing the percentage of 2010 engines that those fleets are required to buy.

Highway and Transit Gets Hosed – Again!

On page 11 of CTN July 2010 Issue ("State Bets Against Higher Gas Prices"), we have included an interesting story about how the legislature has sidestepped the initiative/proposition process as well as the voter’s intent to secure gas taxes on at least two occasions. In another slick tax maneuver to help balance the budget, the legislature has once again stuck it to the commuters and construction industry in this state.

California Proposition 22, would facilitate a Ban on State Borrowing from Local Governments, it will be on the November 2, 2010 ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment.

Language for the proposed initiative was filed with the California Attorney General on October 20, 2009 by an alliance of local government groups, including the League of California Cities and local public unions mainly in safety and fire. About 1.1 million qualifying signatures were filed with election officials on April 29.

Don’t Miss CDTOA’s Heavyhaul Conference, Saturday, July 31^st - 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

The California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) is having our Summer Board Meeting July 30^th and 31^st in Ontario at the Doubletree Ontario Airport off Vineyard Avenue.

The CHP Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be hosting a Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit (CVSS), on Sunday, September 19, 2010, from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit (CVSS) is a free educational seminar, sponsored by the CHP. This year, the summit will continue to focus on current safety issues and , regulatory requirements, and provide a forum for open and candid discussions with state and federal representatives on commercial vehicle safety and security issues. The CHP will also present the first annual Safe Transportation Achievement Recognition (STAR) Award during this year’s summit.

SACRAMENTO (7-9-10) – State Controller John Chiang released his June report covering California’s cash balance, receipts, and disbursements for June. The month’s revenues were below the Governor’s May revision estimates by $54.6 million, or 0.5%.

Following three years of discussions and two years of vetting industry ideas and suggestions, while at the same time witnessing terrible losses due to mostly truck broker–related mismanagement and fraud, we are finally setting a regulatory foundation for construction brokers in this state. (See AB 145)

In this month’s magazine, there are two recent and related articles critical of CARB science and the foundation of its draconian regulations aimed at eliminating diesel exhaust–related PM2.5.