Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 150-9-2 - Intent of Rules, Application of Rules, and Definitions2.1. Intent. -- Pursuant to die powers vested and the authority given under Chapter 24A of die W. Va. Code, the Public Service Commission of West Virginia issues the following rules governing die transportation of persons and property for hire by motor vehicle upon or over the public highways of West Virginia. These rules are intended to insure adequate service to the public; to protect the safety and welfare of the traveling and shipping public in their use of transportation agencies by motor vehicle; to preserve, foster, and regulate transportation; to permit the coordination of transportation facilities; and to provide the traveling and shipping public transportation agencies rendering stabilized service at just and reasonable rates. These rules are also intended to govern die filing of evidence of insurance and financial responsibility by motor carriers to protect the traveling, shipping, and general public against injury, loss, damage, or default for which motor carriers may be liable. Moreover, Rule 4.3 and other safety rules in this series arc also intended to apply to all motor carriers and private commercial carriers that are statutorily subject to the Commission's safety jurisdiction while they are operating on the public highways of West Virginia.2.2. Saving clause. - The adoption of these rules and regulations shall in no way preclude the Commission from altering or amending them in whole or in part, or from requiring any other or additional service, equipment, facility, or standard, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, or upon the application of any motor carrier. Furthermore, compliance with these rules shall not in any way relieve a motor carrier or private commercial carrier from any of its duties under the laws of West Virginia. These rules and regulations are intended to supplement applicable statutes in Chapters 24 and 24A of the W. Va. Code and do not replace or substitute any of the provisions of such statutes.2.3. Application of rules.2.3.1. These rules shall apply to all common or contract motor carriers for hire of passengers or property over the public highways of West Virginia, unless those motor carriers are, under statute, completely exempt from regulation. If a motor carrier is statutorily only partially exempt from regulation, these rules shall apply to that carrier except to the extent that the carrier is statutorily exempt. Rule 4.3 and other safety rules in this series shall apply to all motor carriers and private commercial carriers that arc statutorily subject to the Commission's safety jurisdiction. These rules shall apply to persons and motor vehicles engaged in intrastate and interstate commerce to the extent permitted by the constitutions and laws of West Virginia and of the United States.2.3.2. Waiver of rule. - If hardship results from the application of any rule herein prescribed, or if unusual difficulty is involved in immediately complying with any rule, an application may be filed with the Commission for the temporary or indefinite waiver of that particular rule: Provided, that no application for such waiver shall be considered by the Commission unless there is submitted therewith a full and complete justification for such action.2.4 Definitions. 2.4.1. "Authorized wrecker company" means any person who, after fulfilling the requirements of Rule 3.5.1., has received a P.S.C. W.Va. M.C. Form 4 approval from the Commission's Transportation Division informing the person that they have been registered to transport motor vehicles in wrecker service for hire, over the public highways of West Virginia, between all points and places in West Virginia in intrastate commerce.2.4.2. "Bulky goods" means items or materials which cannot reasonably and conveniently be collected during regularly scheduled weekly pickups, including any of the following discarded items; refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, ovens, stoves, microwave ovens, and other appliances; televisions; home computers; air conditioners; bicycles; furniture; waste tires off the rim, having a radius of no more than 16.5 inches from automobiles, pickup trucks, motorcycles, all-terrain, vehicles, and farm tractors; and other items, not included in the above, that are at least three (3) feet in length, width, or height or at least fifty (50) pounds in weight. "Bulky goods" do not include: (a) automotive components, parts, or frames that weigh at least two hundred (200) pounds each;(b) automotive parts, such as motors and transmissions, that have a high density;(d) items that can easily be divided and placed into bags, boxes, or other containers less than three (3) feet high, long, or wide, that with contents weigh less than fifty (50) pounds each; and (e) construction and demolition debris generally.2.4.3. "CFR" means the Code of Federal Regulations.2.4.4. "Carrier" means any person who transports passengers or property, for any commercial purpose, over the public highways of West Virginia by motor vehicle.2.4.5. "Commercial customer of a common carrier by motor vehicle of solid waste" generally means any customer, other than a residential customer, with whom a common carrier by motor vehicle of solid waste enters into an agreement to collect and transport solid waste for compensation that is to be paid by that customer from property owned or controlled by that customer. The term specifically includes a person, such as the landlord of an apartment building, who enters into an agreement or contract with a carrier to collect and transport, for compensation, solid waste that is generated by one or more of the occupants of the real estate owned or controlled by that person. The term generally includes any commercial, industrial, governmental, or institutional entity that enters into an agreement with a carrier for the collection and transportation, for compensation, of solid waste.2.4.6. "Commercial vehicle" means any motor vehicle operated over the public highways of West Virginia, for any commercial purpose, in interstate or intrastate commerce, if that motor vehicle is: (a) a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one (10,001) pounds or more; (b) a motor vehicle designed to transport more than fifteen (15) passengers, including the driver; or (c) a motor vehicle, of any gross vehicle weight rating, used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding under federal hazardous materials regulations that have been adopted by the Commission.2.4.7. "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.2.4.8. "Common carrier by motor vehicle" means any wrecker company or any other person who undertakes, whether directly or by lease or any other arrangement, to transport passengers or property, or any class or classes of property, for the general public over the highways of West Virginia by motor vehicles for hire, whether over regular or irregular routes, including such motor vehicle operations of carriers by rail, water, or air and of express or forwarding agencies, and leased or rented motor vehicles, with or without drivers.2.4.9. "Common or contract carrier by motor vehicle of recyclable solid waste" means any company or person who collects solid waste recyclable items for transport to places for the purpose of recycling solid waste.2.4.10. "Contract carrier by motor vehicle" means any person not included in Rule 2.4.8. of this section, who under special and individual contracts or agreements, and whether directly or by lease or any other arrangement, transports passengers or property over the highways of West Virginia by motor vehicles for hire.2.4.11. "Emergency substitute carrier" means a common carrier by motor vehicle or a contract carrier by motor vehicle that is authorized by the Public Service Commission to provide service on a temporary basis outside of its certificated territory or its contract and within the territory of a carrier that can no longer provide service because of commission suspension of a motor carrier certificate of convenience and necessity or commission suspension of a contract carrier by motor vehicle permit.2.4.12. "Exempt carrier" means a motor carrier described in §24A-1-3 of die W. Va. Code as exempt from the Commission's regulation pursuant to Chapter 24A of the W. Va. Code.2.4.13. "Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)" means the value specified by the manufacturer of a motor vehicle as the loaded weight of that single vehicle or, in the absence of a value specified by that manufacturer, the total weight of the motor vehicle and any load thereon.2.4.14. "Limousine" means a motor vehicle, equipped with at least three (3) doors and with seating capacity, and separate sets of working seatbelts, for at least five (5) passengers, including the driver, in which a passenger or set of passengers is transported at a rate not less than ten dollars ($10.00) per vehicle trip or vehicle round trip, if that vehicle is used (a) to transport passengers on a frequent basis between fixed points, such as airports and hotels or motels; or (b) as a specialized limousine. A "specialized limousine" does not include "luxury limousine service."2.4.15. "Luxury limousine service" means a passenger motor carrier service by pre-arranged appointment with a minimum charge of no less than $60.00, with a formally dressed chauffeur, using a large and luxurious sedan, sport utility vehicle, or van, or an antique vehicle. A luxury limousine service does not include a motor carrier serving railroad crews or non-emergency medical transport.2.4.16. "Motor carrier" includes both a common carrier by motor vehicle and a contract carrier by motor vehicle. The term "motor carrier" includes both an exempt carrier and a motor carrier who is not an exempt carrier.2.4.17. "Motor vehicle" means and includes any automobile, truck, tractor, truck-tractor, trailer, semitrailer, motorbus, taxicab, and any self-propelling motor-driven motor vehicle, or any combination thereof, used upon any public highway in West Virginia for the purpose of transporting persons or property.2.4.18. "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, company, association, or joint-stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or personal representative thereof.2.4.19. "Private commercial carrier" means any person who undertakes, whether directly or by lease or other arrangement, to transport property, including hazardous materials as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission, for themself, over the public highways of West Virginia, in interstate or intrastate commerce, for any commercial purpose, by any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one (10,001) pounds or more; by any motor vehicle designed to transport more than fifteen (15) passengers, including the driver; or by any motor vehicle used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding under federal hazardous materials regulations that have been adopted by the Commission.2.4.20. "Public highway" means any public street, alley, road, highway, or thoroughfare of any kind in West Virginia that is used by the public.2.4.21. "Residential customer of a common carrier by motor vehicle of solid waste" means an individual residing within a dwelling with whom a common carrier by motor vehicle of solid waste enters into an agreement to collect and transport the solid waste generated by that individual and by any other individuals who reside in that dwelling for compensation that is to be paid by that individual. The term does not include individuals residing in a rented dwelling if the landlord who owns or controls the real estate on which the dwelling is located is a commercial customer of a common carrier by motor vehicle with respect to the rented dwelling.2.4.22. "Solid waste" is synonymous with "trash, rubbish, and garbage" and means and includes any garbage, paper, litter, refuse, cans, bottles, and recyclable waste items; waste tires, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; other discarded material; carcasses of any dead animal or any other offensive or unsightly matter; and solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained liquid or gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, or community activities; subject to the following exclusions: (b) brine and other liquids extracted from wells,(c) solid or dissolved material in sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources and have permits under article eleven, chapter twenty-two, of the W. Va. Code, and(d) source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.2.4.23. "Special annual assessment" means any fee imposed upon a motor carrier and paid to the Commission pursuant to the provisions of §24A-6-6 of the W. Va. Code.2.4.24. "Specialized limousine" means a limousine that is not a "luxury limousine service" but that is either: (b) a vehicle that has seating capacity, and separate sets of working seatbelts, for at least eight (8) passengers; or (c) a vehicle that was operated, and properly registered with the Commission, under a "limousine" or "specialized limousine" certificate on or before January 1, 2002.2.4.25. "Specialized multipassenger van service" means the transportation, in vans, to and from physicians' offices, clinics, hospitals, and other health-care facilities, of passengers who do not need (a) assistance in entering or exiting the vans or (b) the presence of a trained emergency medical technician during transport.2.4.26. "Taxicab" means a motor vehicle, equipped with at least three (3) doors and having a seating capacity and separate sets of working seat belts for at least four (4) passengers, including the driver, that is used to transport a passenger or passengers.2.4.27. "Third-party tow" means the tow of a motor vehicle by a wrecker vehicle if that tow is performed without the prior consent or prior authorization of the owner or operator of the towed motor vehicle.2.4.28. "Transport passengers or property for hire" means to transport them with the intent, expectation, or likelihood that the person transporting the passengers or property will be compensated for that service or for a service connected with that transportation. A carrier that transports property for hire is compensated for the service of transportation and related services but does not sell that property to the person making payment to that carrier.2.4.29. "Uniform vehicle identification card" means any identification card issued by the Commission to a motor carrier pursuant to the provisions of §24A-6-4 of the W. Va. Code.2.4.30. "Wrecker company" means any person who transports motor vehicles in wrecker service for hire over the public highways of West Virginia.