Three new Texas laws 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
Gov. Gregg Abbott has signed into law a bill to add locales in Orange County to the list.
HB2901 allows police in the cities of Orange, West Orange, Bridge City, and Vidor to enforce overweight rules.
Vidor Chief of Police Rod Carroll told lawmakers during a previous hearing on the bill that the city located along Interstate 10 needs truck enforcement authority due to the Texas Department of Public Safety 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. Specifically, he said programs where probable cause is not needed for a traffic stop, a truck driver could be stopped multiple times in one county “simply because they are a truck.”
Waller County
Another new law expands enforcement efforts in Waller County.
SB323 permits 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 said that expanding authorization for truck enforcement is needed because DPS officers simply do not have the resources to continually police affected areas.
City of Mesquite
One more new law permits police officers in the city of Mesquite to enforce truck rules.
SB540 authorizes police in the Dallas area locale to apply for certification to enforce commercial vehicle safety standards.
The new laws take effect on Sept. 1.
2019 truck enforcement laws
Action taken on the three bills this year follows action from 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 four-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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