TRUCKING & ROAD SAFETY

Inspections
    We oppose any legislation requiring an annual safety or emission control inspection of motor vehicles.’07
Truck safety checks should be conducted on a random basis.’07

Bicycle Safety
    With increasing numbers of recreational bicyclists on rural roads, we support the enforcement and enhancement of existing safety laws. ’07

    We recommend that scheduled bicycle events should be prohibited on roads without shoulders. '98

    While more bicycles are using rural roads earlier in the morning and later in the evening, we recommend that these bicycles display SMV signs because of the poor visibility during this time of day.

Safe Movement of Farm Equipment
    Farm Bureau is committed to promoting the health, safety and welfare of farmers.

    We support educational programs for farmers throughout the state explaining the proper use and importance of a "Slow Moving Vehicle Emblem".
Furthermore, we recommend that a mass media campaign be developed to reach the non-farm audience with information to aid in recognizing the "Slow Moving Vehicle Emblem" when it is seen on the highways and roads in an effort to improve safety conditions. ’07
   
    We recommend that the law preventing the use of slow moving vehicle signs for any purpose other than that which they are designed for, be strongly enforced.’07
   
    All after-market or factory installed bright auxiliary lights, such as fog lights, located on the front of vehicles, automobiles, etc. and mounted in positions that are either higher or lower than the standard factory installed headlights, be declared illegal when in use unless they are (1) properly adjusted & (2) capable of being dimmed when the vehicles thus equipped approached another vehicle either from the front or from the rear, reducing the risk of the “other driver” being temporarily blinded by the glare and possibly losing control of his or her vehicle. '97
   
    Planting and harvest seasons require the movement of large farm equipment on public highways. Therefore, we urge farmers to use good judgment in their selection of times and locales of such movements and encourage safe practices.

Truck Regulations
    We urge that farm and commercial weight restrictions be increased to be consistent with those of neighboring states. ’05

    We recommend that the allowable weight for tri-axle farm trucks with farm tags be increased from 65,000 lbs to 70,000 lbs. ’07

    We support the Class K Farm Area vehicle registration. We encourage MVA to require applicants to show proof of farming activity by providing a copy of their schedule F Tax form. ‘07

    Milk trucks should be allowed to be tagged to carry the same weight as a dump truck. ’05

    We recommend that trucks hauling new raw agricultural products be allowed both the gross weight tolerance of 1000 lbs. and the 15% axle weight tolerance before any fines are levied. ’07

    When truck gross vehicle weight is legal but an axle weight is off, enforcement personnel should allow truckers to shift the load to make it legal. '04

    We urge the issuance of an overload permit program for agricultural vehicles hauling raw agricultural products intrastate. '04

    Farm trucks should be considered “local vehicles” with respect to traffic laws.’07

    We oppose the limitation or restriction of truck traffic on state highways in Maryland. '04

    We oppose any further reduction of axle weight limits on trucks.

    Vehicles with farm tag registrations should be exempt from the Inner Bridge Formula. ’07

    We urge the Maryland State Police to minimize disruptions and avoid work stoppage where possible for farm trucks caused by roadside inspections, and the Preventive Maintenance Program. ’05

    We urge the Maryland State Police to review the Preventive Maintenance Law and DOT Regulations to permit a grace period to fix trucks stopped for violations. A priority list should be established for non-life threatening versus life threatening violations with different time periods to get them repaired.

    We urge the Maryland Department of Transportation re-evaluate their rules in an attempt to ease the reporting burden upon the farm truck owners and to make these regulations more realistic when addressing daily walk-around inspections, weekly time logs and on-farm inspections.

    We support legislation that would increase the maximum length for any combination of vehicles with a power unit that is a cargo-carrying vehicle from 55 feet to 65 feet.

    We are opposed to triple trailers in the state of Maryland.

    We urge that farm and commercial trucks have the same weight classification within each class. '96

    We support making weight limits for farm tag vehicles more equitable with those for commercial vehicles. We further support the creation of a Farm Dump Truck class tag for the transportation of farm commodities. '01

Fines & Surcharges
    We support the concept of allocation of truck fine revenues to the transportation fund. ’07

    Present law only allows the driver of a truck to appeal a fine or violation against the truck or its contents. We recommend that the law be amended to allow the driver or the owner to make such an appeal. ’06