SB 240 - Under the terms of this act, drivers for contract carriers that transport railroad employees must have a valid chauffeur's license (Class E license). Each contract carrier shall procure a recent driving record from each prospective driver. The contract carrier shall also conduct a review of the driving record of each applicant prior to his or her hiring. The act also requires contract carriers to maintain a personnel file on each driver who transports railroad employees. Under the terms of the act, a contract carrier must limit the hours of service by a driver who transports railroad employees to 16 hours of total on duty time within any 24 hour period. A contract carrier that transports railroad employees shall require a driver who has 12 hours of actual vehicle operation within any 24 hour period or 16 hours of total on duty time within any 24 hour period to have at least 8 consecutive hours off duty before operating a vehicle under their employ again.
Under the act, a contract carrier who transports railroad employees shall maintain individual daily time records for a minimum of 6 months indicating the times all for-hire motor carrier drivers employed by them reported for duty, the corresponding times of relief from duty, total time driven each day, total time on duty each day, and total time off duty for each day. All records required to maintained under this section shall be made available for inspection by the department of transportation.
The act requires each contract carrier to maintain liability insurance in an amount not less than $1,500,000 for each vehicle used to transport railroad employees.
This act is similar in many respects to SB 1265 (2008).
STEPHEN WITTE