Subcommittee approves substitute for HB1457 to direct overweight citations to truck owners

The Transportation Highway Safety and Policy Subcommittee voted unanimously to report House Bill 1457 as substituted after the sponsor said the change would assign responsibility for overweight coal-truck citations to vehicle owners rather than drivers.

Delegate Morfield told the committee the substitute applies only to coal haulers and shifts citations to owners to avoid penalizing drivers’ records and insurance status. “If a citation is issued, it would go to the owner of the truck and not the driver,” Morfield said, adding that owners would be encouraged to work with coal producers to ensure loads stay within legal limits.

Morfield described how calibration marks are used when trucks are loaded and noted there can be variance depending on coal type; the substitute aims to create a presumption that trucks under a calibration mark are within legal limits but hold owners responsible where overweight citations are issued.

There was no public opposition recorded in the subcommittee. The committee moved to report HB1457 as substituted, and the clerk recorded the vote as 6 to 0 in favor. The chair advised sponsors they would not have to attend the full transportation committee meeting for this measure.