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Minutes for SB390 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Allowing cement trucks to display license plates on front of vehicle.
Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 18, 2020
The Chairperson called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. and opened the hearing on SB390.
Staff Adam Siebers said the bill addresses where a license tag is affixed on concrete-mixer trucks and allows the tag to be placed on the front or the rear of such trucks. Responding to a question, he replied that any license tag must be more than four inches above the ground.
Jerry Younger, Managing Director, Kansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association, recounted the hazards of rear-placed license tags on ready-mix concrete trucks. He commented that not only are the tags easily damaged or obscured with concrete splatter, but require a company's time replacing the tags (Attachment 1).
Justin Crain, Vice President and Treasurer, American Concrete Company, also testified as a proponent (Attachment 2). He related the time spent obtaining new license tags, and he provided pictures to illustrate how the rear of concrete-mixer trucks is not a good environment for license tags. Responding to a question, he replied that, for most concrete trucks, there is no place provided to mount a license tag.
Written-only testimony supporting the bill was provided by the following:
- Mark Woods, President, Independence Ready-Mix, (Attachment 3)
- Chris Blasdel, Vice President, Cornejo Materials Sales, and (Attachment 4)
- Kent Webber, President, Monarch Cement Company (Attachment 5).
Written-only testimony in opposition to the bill was provided by Colonel Herman Jones, Superintendent, Kansas Highway Patrol (Attachment 6).
Tom Whitaker, Executive Director, Kansas Motor Carriers Association, testified as neutral (Attachment 7). He noted that the Kansas Department of Revenue in 2019 replaced 1819 license plates for ready-mix trucks and dump trucks, and he recommended that the bill add language to require that straight trucks registered in excess of 26,000 lbs. display the license tag on the front of the vehicle.
Responding to a question and noting that any truck may be stopped by law enforcement without probable cause, he said that adding other kinds of straight trucks to the bill would not increase the likelihood of traffic stops by law enforcement. A member suggested leaving the bill in its present form and addressing the dump-truck issue at a later time.
The Chair closed the hearing on SB390.
