42
ACT
MARCH 2014
ROUND TABLE
PERMITTING SERVICES
Long Beach, and other local jurisdictions
give out tickets on a regular basis, so it’s
imperative to have your local permits in
order.
It’s a never ending battle to stay on
top of local permits. Twenty years ago,
there was a much smaller percentage
of jobs where people were pulling local
permits. On top of the local permit issue,
new California Air Resources Board
requirements are causing such major
problems that we have customers saying
they’re just going to retire rather than
comply. It seems to me that California
is at the forefront of many difficult
regulatory developments, and I imagine
we’ll start seeing similar requirements
popping up in other states.
Simpson:
Permit America has provided
local permits to our customers since
the company’s establishment in 2002.
Recent years have seen an exponential
growth in the number of local agencies
requiring permits to travel through
their jurisdictions. It has progressed
to the point where in some areas the
state agency is coordinating with the
local agencies to ensure compliance.
Permit America has kept pace with these
requirements, and our knowledgeable
staff is ready to provide any assistance
needed regarding city and county permit
requirements.
Terneus:
Comdata is engaged with
several municipalities and counties. As
more of them enforce or initiate permit
requirements, our customers input is an
excellent resource for Comdata. At any
given time, we are working with five to
10 local authorities to determine what
Comdata needs to process their respective
permits. We’ve added a significant
number of new city/county permits to
our available inventory over the past
12 months, and I expect that trend to
continue. Comdata has a complete
listing of available permits in NGC and
at
.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST
OBSTACLES IN THE PERMITTING PROCESS?
Juneau:
It goes back to the differences
in the validities and the turnaround
time for various permits. Even when
you think you have everything figured
out, there can be complications. For
example, when law enforcement is
involved with escorting the load, that can
add to the nightmare. Because of budget
considerations, they’re often short-staffed
and you may need to reschedule because
of the availability of law enforcement.
And that throws everything else off.
Mollno:
Every agency has its own rules
and regulations. It’s like making all the
pieces fit in a complicated puzzle. You
show up at a state that allows Sunday
travel. That’s great, but the next state
doesn’t authorize it, so you shut down at
the state line and lose valuable time.
Government, too often, is set up
to react to problems rather than to
take a proactive stance to initially
reduce the probability of problems. A
changing of the guard in a state brings
adjustments and amendments in rules
and regulations. Let’s use California as
an example again. A year and a half ago,
a properly-applied-for permit was issued
in two hours or less. New management
made numerous changes, including
consolidating offices. Now permit
turnaround times are highly delayed. So
you hit a big road block before you even
step into your truck.
Simpson:
The nation’s aging
infrastructure is one of the greatest
impediments to moving specialized
freight. Our interstate system is over 50
years old and carrying twice the number
of vehicles it was initially designed
to handle. Bridge capacity, vertical
clearances, and congestion often pose
the biggest obstacles for our customers.
Driver hours-of-operation, permit
effective dates and ranges, daylight
travel restrictions, curfews, weather, and
construction all contribute to accurately
scheduling and delivering OD/OW
freight.
Terneus:
It is very challenging and time
consuming for a carrier to keep up
with specific and different information
required by each jurisdiction based
on the equipment transporting the
load, the load itself and requested
routes of travel. Comdata embraces the
complexity, and we share our knowledge
and expertise across our customer
base. On the NGC website, Comdata
posts the many significant changes that
could impact customers throughout the
U.S and Canada. Also through NGC,
customers keep advised of industry
news and events of importance like state
closings due to weather or state-specific
holidays.
We see the states and provinces as
partners that share a goal of moving loads
in a safe and expeditious manner. We
share a substantial amount of data in the
permit process and rely on their systems
and service to meet our customers’ needs
and expectations.
■
”
‘‘
It is very challenging
and time consuming for
a carrier to keep up with
specific and different
information required
by each jurisdiction
based on the equipment
transporting the load, the
load itself and requested
routes of travel.
BOB TERNEUS,
Comdata Inc.,
Brentwood, TN
