An Act to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-613.1, 46.2-613.3, 46.2-613.4, and 46.2-613.5 of the Code of Virginia, relating to motor carrier violations; authority of law-enforcement officers.
HB498 amends Virginia’s motor carrier enforcement statutes governing civil penalties for certain trucking, registration, tax, and size-limit violations. The bill updates § 46.2-613.1 and related sections to continue authorizing civil penalties and processing fees for violations discovered at permanent weighing stations, including operating unregistered or improperly registered trucks, failing to comply with Unified Carrier Registration requirements, failing to carry required registration or fuel-tax credentials, and operating vehicles or combinations that exceed legal size limits.
The measure also addresses the handling of penalties and fees, directing certain collections to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund and others to the state treasury for DMV expenses. In addition to the penalty provisions, the bill amends §§ 46.2-613.3, 46.2-613.4, and 46.2-613.5, which concern special processing and the authority of law-enforcement officers in enforcing these motor carrier laws. Overall, the bill appears to be a technical enforcement update aimed at clarifying and strengthening compliance mechanisms for commercial motor vehicles.
HB498 affects Virginia’s motor carrier enforcement framework by reaffirming and refining the civil penalty structure for commercial trucking violations, especially those tied to registration, licensing, fuel tax compliance, and vehicle size restrictions. It impacts truck and tractor-truck operators, carriers, and owners or lessees of commercial vehicles, as well as DMV and law-enforcement personnel responsible for inspections and enforcement at weighing stations and on highways. The bill also preserves the allocation of penalty revenue between transportation funding and DMV administrative costs.
The available record suggests the bill moved without recorded opposition or controversy, and there are no committee transcripts or vote tallies indicating significant debate. Its final enactment as Chapter 155 suggests general legislative support for the measure. Based on the text, the bill appears to have been treated as a routine enforcement and administrative update rather than a major policy change.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern inherent in the bill’s subject matter would be the scope of law-enforcement authority, the use of permanent weighing stations, and the imposition of civil penalties on commercial carriers for registration, tax, and size violations. However, the record provided does not show any identified opponents, amendments, or disputed provisions.