1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to traffic regulations; providing for trailer brakes; imposing penalties for 
1.3 	forging or possessing false commercial motor vehicle inspection decal; providing 
1.4 	that officer may require weighing and inspection of truck weighing more than 
1.5 	10,000 pounds;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 169.67, subdivision 
1.6 	3; 169.781, subdivision 5; 169.85, subdivision 1.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.67, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subd. 3.Trailer, semitrailer. (a) No trailer or semitrailer with a gross vehicle 
1.10 	weight of 3,000 or more pounds, or a gross weight that exceeds the empty weight of the 
1.11 	towing vehicle, may be drawn on a highway unless it is equipped with brakes that are 
1.12 	adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold the trailer or semitrailer. A 
1.13 	surge brake on a trailer or semitrailer meets the requirement of this paragraph for brakes 
1.14 	adequate to stop and hold the trailer or semitrailer.
1.15 	(b)  No trailer or semitrailer ~~that is required to have brakes and that has~~ with a gross 
1.16 	vehicle weight of more than ~~6,000~~ 3,000 pounds may be drawn on a highway unless it is 
1.17 	equipped with brakes that are so constructed that they are adequate to stop and hold the 
1.18 	trailer or semitrailer whenever it becomes detached from the towing vehicle.
1.19 	(c) Except as provided in paragraph (d), paragraph (a) does not apply to:
1.20 	(1) a trailer used by a farmer while transporting farm products produced on the user's 
1.21 	farm, or supplies back to the farm of the trailer's user;
1.22 	(2)  a towed custom service vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle that is equipped with 
1.23 	brakes that meet the standards of subdivision 5, provided that such a towed custom service 
1.24 	vehicle that exceeds 30,000 pounds gross weight may not be drawn at a speed of more 
1.25 	than 45 miles per hour;
2.1 	(3)  a trailer or semitrailer operated or used by retail dealers of implements of 
2.2 	husbandry while engaged exclusively in the delivery of implements of husbandry;
2.3 	(4) a motor vehicle drawn by another motor vehicle that is equipped with brakes 
2.4 	that meet the standards of subdivision 5;
2.5 	(5)  a tank trailer of not more than 12,000 pounds gross weight owned by a distributor 
2.6 	of liquid fertilizer while engaged exclusively in transporting liquid fertilizer, or gaseous 
2.7 	fertilizer under pressure;
2.8 	(6) a trailer of not more than 12,000 pounds gross weight owned by a distributor of 
2.9 	dry fertilizer while engaged exclusively in the transportation of dry fertilizer; and
2.10 	(7) a disabled vehicle while being towed to a place of repair.
2.11 	(d) Vehicles described in paragraph (c), clauses (1), (3), and (4), may be operated 
2.12 	without complying with paragraph (a) only if the trailer or semitrailer does not exceed the 
2.13 	following gross weights:
2.14 	(1) 3,000 pounds while being drawn by a vehicle registered as a passenger 
2.15 	automobile, other than a pickup truck as defined in section  168.011, subdivision 29; 
2.16 	(2) 12,000 pounds while being drawn by any other motor vehicle except a 
2.17 	self-propelled implement of husbandry.

2.18 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.781, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
2.19 		Subd. 5.Inspection decal; violation, penalty. (a) A person inspecting a 
2.20 	commercial motor vehicle shall issue an inspection decal for the vehicle if each inspected 
2.21 	component of the vehicle complies with federal motor carrier safety regulations. The decal 
2.22 	must state that in the month specified on the decal the vehicle was inspected and each 
2.23 	inspected component complied with federal motor carrier safety regulations. The decal is 
2.24 	valid for 12 months after the month specified on the decal. The commissioners of public 
2.25 	safety and transportation shall make decals available, at a fee of not more than $2 for each 
2.26 	decal, to persons certified to perform inspections under subdivision 3, paragraph (b).
2.27 	(b) Minnesota inspection decals may be affixed only to:
2.28 	(1) commercial motor vehicles bearing Minnesota-based license plates; or
2.29 	(2) special mobile equipment, within the meaning of subdivision 2, clause (2).
2.30 	(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a person inspecting (1) a vehicle of less 
2.31 	than 57,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and registered as a farm truck, (2) a storage 
2.32 	semitrailer, or (3) a building mover vehicle must issue an inspection decal to the vehicle 
2.33 	unless the vehicle has one or more defects that would result in the vehicle being declared 
2.34 	out of service under the North American Uniform Driver, Vehicle, and Hazardous 
2.35 	Materials Out-of-Service Criteria issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the 
3.1 	Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. A decal issued to a vehicle described in clause (1), 
3.2 	(2), or (3) is valid for two years from the date of issuance. A decal issued to such a vehicle 
3.3 	must clearly indicate that it is valid for two years from the date of issuance.
3.4 	(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a commercial motor vehicle that (1) is registered 
3.5 	as a farm truck, (2) is not operated more than 75 miles from the owner's home post office, 
3.6 	and (3) was manufactured before 1979 that has a dual transmission system, is not required 
3.7 	to comply with a requirement in an inspection standard that requires that the service brake 
3.8 	system and parking brake system be separate systems in the motor vehicle.
3.9 	(e) A person who, with the intent to defraud, falsely makes, duplicates, alters, or 
3.10 	forges a decal or other writing or thing purporting to be a Minnesota inspection decal 
3.11 	described in this subdivision is guilty of a felony. A person who, with the intent to defraud, 
3.12 	possesses a decal or other writing or thing falsely purporting to be a Minnesota inspection 
3.13 	decal described in this subdivision is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

3.14 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.85, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
3.15 		Subdivision 1.Driver to stop for weighing. (a) The driver of a vehicle that has 
3.16 	been lawfully stopped may be required by an officer to submit the vehicle and load to a 
3.17 	weighing by means of portable or stationary scales.
3.18 	(b) In addition, the officer may require that the vehicle be driven to the nearest 
3.19 	available scales, but only if:
3.20 	(1) the distance to the scales is no further than five miles, or if the distance from the 
3.21 	point where the vehicle is stopped to the vehicle's destination is not increased by more 
3.22 	than ten miles as a result of proceeding to the nearest available scales; and
3.23 	(2) if the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle, no more than two other commercial 
3.24 	motor vehicles are waiting to be inspected at the scale.
3.25 	(c) Official traffic control devices as authorized by section 169.06 may be used to 
3.26 	direct the driver to the nearest scale.
3.27 	(d) When a truck weight enforcement operation is conducted by means of portable or 
3.28 	stationary scales, signs giving notice of the operation must be posted within the highway 
3.29 	right-of-way and adjacent to the roadway within two miles of the operation. The driver of 
3.30 	a truck or combination of vehicles registered for or ~~weighing in excess of 12,000~~with a 
3.31 	gross vehicle weight exceeding 10,000 pounds shall proceed to the scale site and submit 
3.32 	the vehicle to weighing and inspection.