March 24, 2005, Introduced by Senators GARCIA, GILBERT and KUIPERS and referred to the Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Regulatory Reform.
A bill to amend 1933 PA 254, entitled
"The motor carrier act,"
by amending sections 2 and 10a of article V (MCL 479.2 and
479.10a), section 2 of article V as amended by 1996 PA 76 and
section 10a of article V as amended by 1993 PA 352, and by adding
article I-A; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
ARTICLE I-A
HOUSEHOLD GOODS CONSUMER PROTECTION
Sec. 11. As used in this article:
(a) "Good moral character" means that term as defined and
determined under 1974 PA 381, MCL 338.41 to 338.47.
(b) "Household goods" means any of the following:
(i) Personal effects and property used or to be used in a
dwelling when a part of the equipment or supply of that dwelling,
but does not include property moving from a factory or store unless
the owner has purchased the property with intent to use in his or
her dwelling and the property is transported at the request of, and
the transportation charges are paid to the carrier by, the
householder.
(ii) Furniture, fixtures, equipment, and the property of
stores, offices, museums, institutions, hospitals, or other
establishments when a part of the stock, equipment, or supply of
the stores, offices, museums, institutions, hospitals, or other
establishments except for the stock-in-trade of any establishment,
whether consignor or consignee, other than used furniture and used
fixtures, unless transported incidental to moving of the
establishment or a portion of the establishment from 1 location to
another.
(iii) Articles, including objects of art, displays, and
exhibits, which because of their unusual nature or value require
the specialized handling and equipment usually employed in moving
household goods.
Sec. 12. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this article,
articles I, II, III, IV, and V do not apply to carriers regulated
by this article.
(2) This article applies to the movement of household goods
within the state of Michigan.
Sec. 13. (1) A person shall not engage in or offer to engage
in the business of being a carrier of household goods unless
licensed under this article.
(2) The commission shall issue a license to a carrier seeking
licensure under this article as a mover of household goods who
complies with all of the following:
(a) Applies in the manner provided for by the commission and
has disclosed the background information required under subsection
(3).
(b) Submits the application fee of $500.00 and the per year
license fee of $300.00.
(c) Is of good moral character.
(d) Pays the per truck fee as provided in section 2 of article
IV.
(3) As part of the application process, the applicant shall
disclose the following regarding the applicant, or a shareholder or
person with an ownership interest in the applicant, in a manner
provided for by the commission:
(a) Any felony convictions in this or any other state.
(b) Any misdemeanor convictions involving fraud, embezzlement,
larceny, or misrepresentation.
(c) Any failure to satisfy any civil fines or administrative
fines imposed by a local, state, or federal governmental body or
agency.
(d) Any pending criminal or administrative proceedings before
a local, state, or federal governmental body or agency.
(e) Any judgments or administrative findings or orders entered
or filed by a state or federal governmental body or agency.
(f) Any judgments or orders entered or filed regarding a
violation of the Michigan consumer protection act, 1976 PA 331, MCL
445.901 to 445.922, or the consumer protection provisions of 49
CFR, parts 375 and 377, administered by the federal motor carrier
safety administration of the federal department of transportation.
(g) Proof of compliance with the insurance requirements of
section 14.
(h) Proof of compliance with the safety requirements imposed
by the commission by rule and, upon commission request, a finding
by the department of state police that the carrier is in compliance
with the motor carrier safety act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11
to 480.22.
(4) Upon denying an application for licensure as a carrier of
household goods, the commission shall specifically list in writing
the reasons for the denial. If the denial is based upon failure to
make certain disclosures or complete the entire application, the
commission shall specifically indicate those failures and allow the
applicant a reasonable time to correct those failures. In the case
of an applicant who completes the application and makes all of the
required disclosures but is denied licensure under this article for
specific reason described by the commission, the applicant may
apply in writing to the commission for a limited or probationary
license. The request for a limited or probationary license shall be
accompanied by an additional application fee of $100.00. The
commission may issue a limited or probationary license to an
applicant that the commission determines is likely to serve the
public in a fair and honest manner under the circumstances. The
commission shall not issue a limited or probationary license to an
applicant that does not comply with the insurance and safety
requirements imposed in subsection (3)(g) and (h). The commission
shall consider the application for a limited or probationary
license and respond to the applicant within 30 days after its
submission to the commission. The commission shall issue a written
order describing the reasons for the grant or denial. A limited or
probationary license is renewable in the same manner as regular
licenses.
(5) In deciding whether to issue or deny a license under this
section, the commission shall seek to promote all of the following:
(a) Safety on the highways.
(b) Competition among movers.
(c) Entrepreneurship in the household goods industry.
(d) The use of all methods of pricing household goods moves
including, but not limited to, the use of hourly, weight and
distance, and piece methods of charging.
(e) Consumer protection.
Sec. 14. (1) A person seeking a license under this article as
a carrier moving household goods shall have general liability
insurance coverage required by the commission under section 9 of
article V and any rules promulgated under that section, insurance
as required by law for employers or other persons doing business in
this state, and cargo insurance of the type and in the amount
required under subsection (2).
(2) A person seeking a license under this article as a carrier
moving household goods shall have cargo insurance in the amount of
at least $50,000.00 per shipment.
Sec. 15. (1) Before execution of a contract for moving
household goods, a carrier licensed under this article shall make a
written estimate of the total cost of the move. Carriers have the
option of providing a binding or nonbinding estimate to the
shipper. A place shall be provided on the estimate form for
shippers to initial their understanding that they are agreeing to
either a binding or a nonbinding estimate of pricing. The estimate
may be made using any method of pricing including, but not limited
to, hourly charges, piece charges, or weight and distance charges,
and shall include the method for computing reimbursement to the
consumer for broken or damaged items as further described in
subsection (2). Any additional charges shall be separately stated
and itemized on the estimate. Binding and nonbinding estimates
shall clearly describe the shipment and all services to be provided
and shall be retained by the carrier as an addendum to the bill of
lading. Movers of household goods furnishing nonbinding estimates
shall enter the estimated charges on the bill of lading. The
estimate shall contain a separate place on the estimate for the
consumer to initial or sign an acknowledgment of receipt of the
consumer rights brochure described in section 18(2).
(2) The carrier shall offer both of the following choices,
attached to or made as a separate section of the estimate, to the
consumer, to be signed or initialed by the consumer noting his or
her choice, regarding broken or damaged items:
(a) Depreciated value, reimbursing the depreciated value of
the item or not less than $2.25 per pound.
(b) Replacement value, reimbursing the replacement value of
the item or not less than $4.00 per pound.
(3) A written contract shall be provided to the consumer,
shall be signed and dated by the parties, and shall include at
least the following:
(a) The name, telephone number, and address where the
carrier's employees are available during normal business hours.
(b) The date the contract is prepared and the proposed date of
the move.
(c) The name and address of the consumer, the addresses where
the items are to be picked up and delivered, and a telephone number
where the consumer may be reached.
(d) An itemized breakdown and description and estimated total
of all costs for all services.
(e) The acceptable forms of payment.
(4) A carrier may combine the estimate and contract into 1
document so long as it complies with this section.
(5) A contractual provision that contravenes the provisions of
this section is voidable by the consumer.
Sec. 16. (1) A carrier shall deliver and relinquish the
household goods after payment of the amount in the estimate. The
carrier may place the household goods in storage if payment is not
made according to the contract.
(2) Upon execution of a contract for moving household goods
based upon a nonbinding estimate, if the cost of moving the
household goods exceeds the amount in the written nonbinding
estimate, the carrier may seek additional payment after delivery of
the household goods upon the expiration of 30 days after the
delivery of the household goods.
(3) Upon execution of a contract for moving household goods
based upon a binding estimate, the estimate shall constitute the
total charges the carrier may collect from the consumer. Upon
payment of the binding estimate, further collection of payments is
not allowed.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), a carrier may seek
additional payment from the consumer for storage costs incurred
under subsection (1) if payment is not made according to the
contract.
Sec. 17. A person licensed under this article shall not do any
of the following:
(a) Knowingly make a false statement, representation, or
certification on any application, document, or record submitted
under this article.
(b) Misrepresent any of the following:
(i) A contract for service, bill of lading, or inventory
household goods in the estimate.
(ii) The time frame or schedule for delivery or storage of
household goods.
(iii) The price, size, nature, extent, qualities, or
characteristics of moving or other services offered.
(iv) The nature or extent of other goods, services, or
amenities offered.
(v) A consumer's rights, privileges, or benefits.
(c) Fail to honor or comply with all the provisions of a
contract for services regarding the consumer's rights, benefits,
and privileges under that contract.
(d) Withhold delivery or in any way hold household goods in
storage against the expressed wishes of the consumer if payment has
been made as described in the contract or estimate.
(e) Seek, solicit, or include in any contract a provision
purporting to waive or limit any right or benefit provided to
consumers under this act.
(f) Advertise or solicit business unless the carrier's
business address is clearly disclosed.
(g) Engage in any act that constitutes fraud,
misrepresentation, or failure to disclose a material fact in a
transaction under this article.
(h) Refuse or fail after notice to produce any document,
record, or information required to be disclosed or produced under
this act.
(i) Knowingly make a materially false statement in response to
any request or investigation conducted by the commission.
Sec. 18. (1) The commission may promulgate rules under the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328, to administer and enforce this article, and may issue
orders to enforce this article.
(2) The commission shall develop a consumer rights brochure to
be provided to the carriers licensed under this article for
distribution to consumers.
Sec. 19. (1) A person who violates this article, a rule
promulgated under this article, or an order issued by the
commission under this article is subject to 1 or more of the
following after notice and opportunity for a hearing under the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328:
(a) Suspension or revocation of a license issued under this
article or denial of an application for licensure under this
article.
(b) A consent order.
(c) Probation or limitation of a license.
(d) Issuance of a cease and desist order.
(e) Restitution.
(f) An administrative fine of not more than $5,000.00 per
offense.
(2) A consumer may institute an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for damages or equitable relief regarding a violation
of this article by a licensee.
(3) The commission may institute an action in a court of
competent jurisdiction for damages, equitable relief regarding a
violation of this article by a licensee, a judgment or final
administrative order for restitution on behalf of a consumer, or
the collection of any civil or administrative fine imposed under
this article.
(4) The commission may institute an action in a court of
competent jurisdiction for a civil fine of not more than $5,000.00
for a violation of this article by a licensee.
(5) A person who violates this article is guilty of a
misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned not more than 90 days or fined
not more than $10,000.00, or both.
(6) The remedies and penalties in this article are cumulative
and relief under 1 remedy does not bar relief under any other
remedy.
ARTICLE V
Sec.
2. (1) This act shall does not apply to any of the
following:
(a) A vehicle operated entirely within a city or village of
this state; or to a motor carrier of property whose operations may
extend a distance of not more than 8 miles beyond the boundary of a
city or village having a population of less than 500,000, if the
origin and destination of the property being transported is within
an 8-mile radius of the city or village. The territory within the
external corporate limits of a city, even though it includes and
embraces the area of 1 or more separately organized and existing
cities, shall be considered a single city. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this subdivision, a certificate or permit issued
under this act is required for the operation of a vehicle of a
motor carrier, other than a vehicle exempted under subdivisions (b)
to (p), in the transportation of property between a city having a
population of 500,000 or more and a city or village located within
the commercial zone of a city having a population of 500,000 or
more, or between cities or villages within that commercial zone. As
used in this subdivision, "commercial zone" means the area within
an 8-mile radius of a city having a population of 500,000 or more
and includes all cities and villages, any part of which are located
within that 8-mile radius.
(b) A vehicle owned or operated by the state or the United
States, or by a state or federal corporation, agency, or
instrumentality.
(c) A vehicle owned or operated by an incorporated city,
village, or school district, or by a county or township in the
state or by a corporation, agency, or instrumentality of the state,
for governmental purposes.
(d) A vehicle used exclusively for carrying United States
mail.
(e) A vehicle used for the transportation of farm products,
including livestock, when transported by other than the owner, from
the farm to the market in the raw state, or used for the
transportation of milk from the farm to milk stations, or trucks
owned by a farmer bearing a farm truck license issued under section
801(1)(c)
of the Michigan vehicle code, Act No. 300 of the Public
Acts
of 1949, being section 257.801 of the Michigan Compiled Laws
1949 PA 300, MCL 257.801, when being used by the farmer in hauling
farm produce, livestock, or farm equipment, and supplies for other
farmers for remuneration in kind or in labor, but not for money.
(f) A vehicle used for the transportation of fruits, eggs,
poultry, fish and seafood, grain, vegetables, seeds, nursery stock,
horticultural
products, and sugar beets. This subdivision shall
does not exempt a vehicle transporting the commodities described in
this subdivision in other than the raw state.
(g) A vehicle used for occasional accommodative service
including seasonal transportation of perishable commodities even
though the cost of the accommodative service and seasonal
transportation of perishable commodities may be paid by the person
accommodated.
(h) A dump truck having not more than 4 axles or any dump
vehicle moving directly to and from a public highway, airport, or
railroad or bridge construction site, when used for the
transportation of sand, gravel, slag, stone, limestone, crushed
stone, marl, pebbles, cinders, bituminous aggregates, asphalt,
blacktop, dirt, or fill material, or any dump vehicle transporting
commodities generally transported in the dump vehicle operating
within an 8-mile radius of a city having a population of 500,000 or
more and including all other cities or villages, any part of which
is located within the 8-mile radius.
(i) A vehicle used to transport a vehicle that is temporarily
disabled from a point within an 8-mile radius of a city having a
population of 500,000 or more and including all other cities or
villages, any part of which is located within the 8-mile radius to
another point within that radius.
(j) A vehicle used for the transportation of pulpwood, logs,
wood chips, bark, and sawdust when the vehicle is being used to
move the commodities from a forest, woodlot, cutting site, sawmill,
or chipping site to a market or railroad siding of not more than a
140-mile radius from the place where the vehicle is loaded.
(k) A vehicle having a manufacturer's rating of not more than
1-1/2 tons capacity or the equivalent gross vehicle weight rating
used for the transportation of newspapers.
(l) A vehicle towing a disabled motor vehicle from the location
at which it was disabled to another location or a vehicle towing a
motor vehicle involved in an accident from the location of the
accident to another location.
(m) A vehicle used in the transportation of livestock, poultry
feed, chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers on movements directly
to a farm for use in agricultural production.
(n) A vehicle used for the transportation of property for
compensation provided by a person who is a member of a corporate
family for other members of the corporate family, if all of the
following conditions are met:
(i) The parent corporation notifies the commission annually of
its intent or the intent of 1 of its subsidiaries to provide the
transportation.
(ii) The notice described in subparagraph (i) contains a list of
participating subsidiaries and an affidavit that the parent
corporation owns directly or indirectly a 100% interest in each of
the subsidiaries.
(iii) The notice described in subparagraph (i) is accompanied by
a fee of $100.00.
(iv) The commission publishes the notice described in
subparagraph (i) in the biweekly bulletin.
(v) A copy of the notice described in subparagraph (i) is
carried in the cab of all vehicles conducting the transportation.
(o) A vehicle transporting animal and poultry feed or feed
ingredients to sites of agricultural production or to a business
enterprise engaged in the sale to agricultural producers of goods
used in agricultural production.
(p) A vehicle transporting recyclable materials to or from a
resource
recovery facility. The terms "recyclable materials"
"Recyclable
materials" and "resource
recovery facility" have the
meanings
attributed to these mean
those terms as defined in part
115
(solid waste management) section 11505 of the natural
resources
and environmental protection act, Act No. 451 of the
Public
Acts of 1994, being sections 324.11501 to 324.11549 of the
Michigan Compiled Laws 1994 PA 451, MCL
324.11505, except that the
term recyclable materials does not include industrial scrap metal.
This subdivision shall not be construed to exempt from this act a
vehicle transporting new products.
(2) The movers of household goods are regulated as provided
for under article I-A.
(3) (2)
As used in subsection (1)(n),
"corporate family"
means a group of corporations consisting of a parent corporation
and all subsidiaries in which the parent corporation owns directly
or indirectly a 100% interest.
(4) (3)
None of the exemptions in this
section, where
applicable, apply to a vehicle entering this state from another
state, foreign country, or subdivision of a state or foreign
country that does not extend similar exemptions to vehicles from
this state entering the state, foreign country, or subdivision.
Sec. 10a. (1) The lease, contract, or arrangement under which
a holder augments his or her equipment shall specify the period for
which the equipment is to be operated, which shall not be less than
30 days, and shall include a provision that the vehicle has, within
the immediately preceding 12 months, passed an inspection pursuant
to
the requirements of the motor carrier safety act, Act No. 181
of
the Public Acts of 1963, being sections 480.11 to 480.21 of the
Michigan Compiled Laws 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11
to 480.22, and 49
C.F.R.
CFR part 396.
(2) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall specify the
compensation to be paid by the lessee or party to the contract or
arrangement for the rental or use of the equipment.
(3) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall specify the time
and date or the circumstance on which the contract, lease, or other
arrangement begins, and the time or circumstance on which it ends.
(4) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall vest in the
holder of the vehicle exclusive possession and control of the
vehicle for the entire term of the lease, contract, or arrangement.
(5) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall provide that any
operation of the vehicle shall be conducted under the exclusive
supervision, direction, and control of the holder.
(6) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall provide that the
vehicle, at all times, while being operated under the lease,
contract, or arrangement, shall be operated only by persons who are
employees of the holder who stand in relation to the holder as
employee to employer.
(7) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall be in the
manner,
form, and further content as the commission by rule
provides by rule.
(8) The lease, contract, or arrangement shall be executed in
quadruplicate; the original shall be filed with the commission. One
copy shall be retained by the authorized motor carrier in whose
service the equipment is to be operated, 1 copy shall be retained
by the owner of the equipment, and 1 copy shall be carried on the
equipment specified in the lease, contract, or arrangement during
the entire period of the contract, lease, or other arrangement.
(9)
Nothing in this This section shall does not
apply to
the interchange with other certificated motor common carriers or
the multiple certification of motor carrier equipment when specific
approval and authority to interchange the equipment has been or is
granted by the commission.
(10)
The provisions of subsection Subsection (1) shall
does not apply to or be required of or between movers
of
household goods, when the equipment is used to transport household
goods
as defined by the commission under
article I-A.
Enacting section 1. Section 7c of article II of the motor
carrier act, 1933 PA 254, MCL 476.7c, is repealed.