HB 709 -- Motor Carrier and Railroad Safety Sponsor: O'Connor This bill revises statutory sections under the Division of Motor Carrier and Railroad Safety relating to the power and authority to regulate common or contract carriers of household goods or passengers. The bill: (1) Permits the division to waive federal driver qualifications to operate in intrastate commerce. The procedures for waivers will follow the federal guidelines; (2) Removes the minimum 120 hours of basic law enforcement training requirement for division personnel; (3) Removes the requirement that the division set rates for carriers of commodities in dump trucks; (4) Changes the motor carrier annual license renewal date from the end of February to December 31. Anyone failing to comply with the renewal provision will be guilty of a class C misdemeanor (currently a misdemeanor); (5) Requires charter buses to conform to the registration provisions which apply to property carriers; and (6) Contains language dealing with the access and release of closed records of information relating to the safety of a carrier, cooperative agreements, and flagman warning or track-out-of-service signs at rail crossings.Copyright (c) Missouri House of Representatives