2012 Legislative Agenda:
Fighting for Fairness, Timeliness and Transparency. The MTA board of directors established three priorities for the 2012 Session of the Minnesota Legislature: Ban one-way indemnity clauses in shipping contracts, reduce Minnesota’s statute of limitations for civil suits from six years to three, and push back the effective date of the B10 mandate in order to create more transparency in price reporting.
Ban One-Way Indemnity Clauses. Truckers believe in fairness. We believe that if, in the course of moving freight, a trucker causes damage or harm, the trucker should pay. The same should be true for shippers. However, a growing number of shippers are inserting contract language that shifts all liability to the trucker. If the parties were true equals, the trucker could reject such “hold harmless” clauses. But truckers do not have leverage with shippers and thus are forced to accept these clauses or lose the business. That isn’t fair, and it increases insurance prices for truckers. Roughly 30 other states have figured this out and banned such clauses. Minnesota should be the next.
Reduce the Statute of Limitations. Truckers also believe in timely settlement, whether it is getting paid for a load or dealing with litigation. Yet, Minnesota has one of the most liberal statutes of limitation in the nation. Plaintiffs may bring civil suits up to six years after the supposed harm took place. Reconstructing what happened six months ago is tough enough, but six years can be next to impossible. Such liberal laws attract more suits through “venue shopping,” bogging down the courts and driving up costs for truckers. Minnesota should be in line with the rest of the country and reduce that number to three years.
Push Back B10 Effective Date. Truckers also believe when it comes to fuel markets, the impacts of mandates should be transparent. Minnesota’s B5 mandate was passed in 2002. After some initial quality control issues, the fuel has generally performed well. However, it has been very difficult to evaluate how the mandate is impacting the base price of the fuel, and increasing the mandate should not occur until that question is answered. By extending the effective date of B10 until 2015 or beyond, Minnesota can factually determine if the B5 mandate has increased or decreased the base cost of diesel fuel. Minnesota truckers will support the new mandate if fuel costs are proven to have decreased, but we plan to fight it if they have risen because of B5. Let’s get all the facts before we decide on the next step.
Get Ready to Engage Your Legislators. Legislative leaders have promised a fast and short legislative session, ending April 30th at the latest, which means fewer hearings and fewer bills making it through the process. To successfully move our agenda we will need our members active and engaged. Please respond when we call you to action.
The Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA) Board of Directors establishes legislative priorities on an annual basis. If you have any industry issues that you would like to discuss please contact John Hausladen at (651) 646-7351 or by e-mail at john@mntruck.org.
Tips on How To Meet With Your Legislator:
Where to go to Learn More:
President Barack Obama provides a great deal of information about current events and public issues on the Presidential web page. You can watch recent press briefings, listen to radio interviews and submit questions to members of the Cabinet at http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Governor Mark Dayton's web site is filled with useful information. By clicking 'Government Directory' you can even access a listing of government employees as well as agency web pages at http://www.governor.state.mn.us/
Both our Federal and State Legislatures have very user-friendly web sites with many useful links that allow you to track legislation, get information about legislators, and learn about the legislative process. Take time to explore these very useful pages!
Visit http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html to discover who represents you at the state and at the national level. By simply entering your street address and zip code, you will be provided with contact information and websites for your state and national elected leaders.
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