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Ohio Laws and Rules
As used in sections 4919.75 to 4919.79 of the Revised Code:
(A) “Public highway” means any public street, road, highway, or thoroughfare in this state, whether within or without the corporate limits of a municipal corporation.
(B) “Motor carrier” includes both a common carrier of property or passengers by motor vehicle and a contract carrier of property or passengers by motor vehicle.
(C) “Motor vehicle” means any truck or tractor, including any other self-propelled or motor driven vehicle, that is operated upon any public highway of this state for the purpose of transporting property or passengers for hire.
(D) “Common carrier by motor vehicle” or “common carrier” includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, person, firm, or copartnership, and their lessees, legal or personal representatives, trustees, and receivers or trustees appointed by any court, when engaged or proposing to engage in the business of transporting property or passengers, or the business of providing or furnishing such transportation service, for hire, whether directly or by lease or other arrangement, for the public in general, in or by motor-propelled vehicles of any kind, including trailers, over any public highway in this state.
(E) “Contract carrier by motor vehicle” or “contract carrier” includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, person, firm, or copartnership, their lessees, legal or personal representatives, trustees, or receivers or trustees appointed by any court, not included in the definition under division (D) of this section, when engaged in the business of private carriage of property or passengers, or proving or furnishing such transportation service, for hire, in or by motor-propelled vehicles of any kind, including trailers, over any public highway in this state.
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
The public utilities commission shall adopt rules applicable to motor carrier registration consistent with and equivalent in scope, coverage, and content to the registration rules specified by the United States department of transportation.
Effective Date: 07-01-1993; 2006 HB699 01-01-2007
(A) The public utilities commission of Ohio shall adopt rules requiring the filing of a liability insurance certificate, policy, or bond by any for hire interstate motor carrier operating under an exemption from the interstate commerce commission.
(B) The commission may require payment of a fee when a motor carrier files a certificate, policy, or bond under division (A) of this section and may adopt rules creating an insurance registration program for those carriers that is comparable to the program established under section 4919.76 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
No motor carrier required to register under section 4919.77 of the Revised Code shall engage in interstate or foreign commerce within the borders of this state until the motor carrier has filed with the public utilities commission of Ohio a currently effective liability insurance certificate from an insurance company, or a surety bond sufficient to protect against death, bodily injury, and property damage in such sum and with such provisions as the commission considers necessary to adequately protect the interests of the public. The liability insurance certificate, policy, or bond shall insure the motor carrier against loss sustained by reason of the death of, or injuries to, persons and for loss of, or damage to, property resulting from the negligence of the motor carrier.
Motor carriers shall comply with requirements of the commission as to amounts of liability insurance.
Each liability insurance certificate or surety bond shall provide that prior to cancellation thirty days notice in writing shall be given by the insurer or surety to the commission and the motor carrier. The commission shall prescribe the form and regulations pertaining to the liability insurance certificates or surety bonds.
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
(A) The public utilities commission may adopt safety rules applicable to the highway transportation and offering for transportation of hazardous materials in interstate commerce, which highway transportation takes place into or through this state.
(B) The commission may adopt safety rules applicable to the highway transportation of persons or property in interstate commerce, which transportation takes place into or through this state.
(C) Rules adopted under divisions (A) and (B) of this section shall be consistent with, and equivalent in scope, coverage, and content to, the “Hazardous Materials Transportation Act,” 88 Stat. 2156 (1975), 49 U.S.C.A. 1801, as amended, and regulations adopted under it, and the “Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984,” 98 Stat. 2832, 49 U.S.C.A. 2501, and regulations adopted under it, respectively. No person shall violate a rule adopted under division (A) or (B) of this section or any order of the commission issued to secure compliance with any such rule.
(D) The commission shall cooperate with, and permit the use of, the services, records, and facilities of the commission as fully as practicable by appropriate officers of the interstate commerce commission, the United States department of transportation, and other federal agencies or commissions and appropriate commissions of other states in the enforcement and administration of state and federal laws relating to highway transportation by motor vehicles. The commission may enter into cooperative agreements with the interstate commerce commission, the United States department of transportation, and any other federal agency or commission to enforce the economic and safety laws and rules of this state and of the United States concerning highway transportation by motor vehicles. All grants-in-aid, cash, and reimbursements received by the commission pursuant to those cooperative agreements shall be deposited to the credit of the motor carrier safety fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, to be used by the commission for the purpose of carrying out this section.
(E) To achieve the purposes of this section, the commission , through its inspectors or other authorized employees, may inspect any vehicles of carriers of persons or property in interstate commerce subject to the safety rules prescribed by this section and may enter upon the premises and vehicles of such carriers to examine any of the carriers’ records or documents that relate to the safety of operation of such carriers. In order to assist the commission in the performance of its duties under this section, authorized employees of the motor carrier enforcement unit, created under section 5503.34 of the Revised Code in the division of state highway patrol, of the department of public safety may enter in or upon, for purposes of inspection, any vehicle of any such carrier.
In order to inspect motor vehicles owned or operated by private motor carriers of persons, authorized employees of the motor carrier enforcement unit, division of state highway patrol, of the department of public safety may enter in or upon the premises of any private carrier of persons in interstate commerce, subject to the safety rules prescribed by this section.
Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 09-16-2004
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
Effective Date: 07-01-1993
(A)(1) Except for those violations for which a forfeiture is provided in section 4905.83 of the Revised Code, whoever violates a provision of this chapter is liable to the state for a forfeiture of not more than ten thousand dollars for each day of each violation. The public utilities commission, after providing reasonable notice and the opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the procedural rules adopted under section 4901.13 of the Revised Code, shall assess, by order, a forfeiture upon a person who the commission determines, by a preponderance of the evidence, committed the recommended fine or violation. In determining the amount of the forfeiture for a violation discovered during a roadside inspection, the commission shall be consistent with the recommended fine or penalty schedule and recommended civil penalty procedure adopted by the commercial vehicle safety alliance, but shall not exceed one thousand dollars. In determining the amount of the forfeiture for a violation discovered during a compliance review of fixed facilities, the commission shall be consistent with the civil penalty guidelines adopted by the United States department of transportation’s federal highway administration, but shall not exceed ten thousand dollars.
The attorney general, upon the written request of the commission, shall bring a civil action in the court of common pleas of Franklin county to collect a forfeiture assessed under this section. The commission shall account for the forfeitures collected under this section and pay them to the treasurer of state pursuant to section 4923.12 of the Revised Code.
(2) The attorney general, upon the written request of the commission, shall bring an action for injunctive relief in the court of common pleas of Franklin county against any person who has violated or is violating any order issued by the commission to secure compliance with a provision of this chapter. The court of common pleas of Franklin county has jurisdiction to and may grant preliminary and permanent injunctive relief upon a showing that the person against whom the action is brought has violated or is violating any order issued by the commission to secure compliance with this chapter. The court shall give precedence to such an action over all other cases.
(B) The amount of any forfeiture may be compromised at any time prior to collection of the forfeiture. The commission shall adopt rules governing the manner in which the amount of forfeiture may be established by agreement prior to the hearing on the forfeiture before the commission.
(C) The proceedings of the commission specified in division (A) of this section are subject to and governed by Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code, except as otherwise specifically provided in this section. The court of appeals of Franklin county has exclusive, original jurisdiction to review, modify, or vacate an order of the commission issued to secure compliance with a provision of this chapter and an order issued under division (A)(1) of this section assessing a forfeiture. The court of appeals shall hear and determine those appeals in the same manner, and under the same standards, as the supreme court hears and determines appeals under Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code.
The judgment of the court of appeals is final and conclusive unless reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. Such appeals may be taken either by the commission or the person to whom the compliance order or forfeiture assessment was issued and shall proceed as in the case of appeals in civil actions as provided in the Rules of Appellate Procedure and Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.
(D) Section 4903.11 of the Revised Code does not apply to an appeal of an order issued to secure compliance with this chapter or an order issued under division (A)(1) of this section assessing a forfeiture. Any person to whom any such order is issued who wishes to contest the compliance order, the fact of the violation, or the amount of the forfeiture shall file a notice of appeal, setting forth the order appealed from and the errors complained of, within sixty days after the entry of the order upon the journal of the commission. The notice of appeal shall be served, unless waived, upon the chairman of the commission or, in the event of his absence, upon any public utilities commissioner, or by leaving a copy at the office of the commission at Columbus. An order issued by the commission to secure compliance with a provision of this chapter or an order issued under division (A)(1) of this section assessing a forfeiture shall be reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal if, upon consideration of the record, the court is of the opinion that the order was unlawful or unreasonable.
Effective Date: 09-29-1995