Here is the e-mail that was sent to the teams.
----- Original Message -----
From: Graham Light <
[email protected]>
Sent: Thu Oct 27 19:23:08 2011
Subject: California 56' trailer law
As most of you are aware, California Highway Patrol (CHP) has indicated they will actively be enforcing the maximum 53’ trailer law. The problem first surfaced when Bob Tasca’s transporter was cited in route from Sonoma to Seattle. At that time it was believed that an over-length permit could be obtained through Caltrans (California Department of Transportation). On September 28, Bob informed us of the following – “Our permit was rejected in writing and I was told that under no circumstance will they allow a 56 foot trailer into CA. They also made it clear to me that there is no permit available. The head of the DOT was very nice to me but made it clear that the Motorsports law would have to be amended. Since the NASCAR community uses 53 foot trailers they are unaffected. He told me that a trailer caught will be impounded at the scales and have to be loaded on a low boy trailer and truck out of the state.”
Since that time, V Gaines has been working with the National Truckers Association in a lobbying effort to seek a Federal exemption for motorsports. V has made some positive headway, however obtaining a Federal exemption can be a lengthy process, one that certainly will NOT be obtained prior to Pomona (or for that matter, probably not the 2012 Winternationals). Also, there are NO guarantees that obtaining an exemption is even possible.
NHRA has been in communication with the head of the Commercial Division for the CHP and Caltrans, plus has recruited assistance from Joe Sheehy Legislative Director for Congresswoman Grace Napoliano and the Southern California Auto Club (AAA). Congresswoman Napolitano is extremely supportive and has discussed with the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of the CHP. The Auto Club’s Tom McKernan, their transportation staff and their Sacramento lobbyist have been very helpful in communication with California legislators, the CHP and Caltrans. We have also solicited assistance from Infineon Raceway and Auto Club Speedway at Fontana in contacting the CHP, Caltrans and State Legislators expressing the importance of the issue as well as how these races benefit the local and state economy. Additionally, the Fairplex at Pomona has also been actively pursuing a resolution to this matter.
In a conference call Tuesday with the head of the CHP Commercial Division, three of his officers and myself, I was alarmed to learn how knowledgeable they are about our activities:
1. They are aware that the NHRA teams are currently in Las Vegas this weekend.
2. They are aware these teams will be travelling to Pomona for the event two weeks later.
3. They identified certain teams that use legal 53’ trailers, and also named others that have 56’ trailers.
4. They are aware that most teams are based in Indianapolis.
5. On Monday, they were on a conference call with the Indiana State Police regarding enforcement of over-length trailers in Indiana. ,
Our efforts to this point have been an attempt to arrive at a short term solution for the Auto Club NHRA Finals. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s efforts, a resolution to the matter has not yet been reached.
• Caltrans is the agency that creates and issues permits. They have made it very clear that permits do NOT exist for this purpose and, at this point, are unwilling to consider creating a permit.
• The CHP’s position is that it is their responsibility to “enforce the law” and the teams responsibility to “comply with the law”. Their opinion is that the law was revised in the late 90’s to accommodate motorsport transporters and there is little willingness on their part to further amend a long standing law (the same law that exists in most other states). They also expressed they are “not supportive of exempting longer trailers”. We do not have a sense as to how aggressively they plan on enforcing this law.
While there is no immediate resolution, the CHP suggested transporting race cars and support equipment in rented legal length trailers - then contract with a transport service to haul the 56’ trailer on a lowboy (permits do exist for this purpose). Another suggestion was to investigate the possibility of shipping the trailers and contents by rail from Las Vegas to Pomona area.
Anything your team could do to use your influence and/or connections to assist in this matter could be beneficial.
Thanks,
Graham
