Pennsylvania Code › Title 52 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part I - Public Utility Commission › Subpart B - Carriers of Passengers or Property › Chapter 37 - SAFETY CODE FOR TRANSPORTATION OF PROPERTY AND PASSENGERS › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 37.202 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
						have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
AC-Alcohol concentration
-The
						concentration of alcohol in a person's blood or breath. When expressed as a
						percentage, the term means grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or
						grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
Act
-66 Pa.C.S. (relating to the Public
						Utility Code).
Bus
-A motor vehicle designed,
						constructed and used for the transportation of passengers under certificates of
						public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission in scheduled route or
						in group or party service. For the purpose of this chapter, the designed
						seating capacity of the bus shall be 16 or more passengers.
Business district
-The territory
						contiguous to and including a highway when within any 600 feet along the
						highway there are buildings in use for business or industrial purposes,
						including hotels, banks or office buildings, railroad stations and public
						buildings which occupy at least 300 feet of frontage on one side or 300 feet
						collectively on both sides of the highway.
Direct assistance
-Transportation and
						other relief services provided by a motor carrier or its drivers incident to
						the immediate restoration of essential services-such as, electricity, medical
						care, wastewater, water, telecommunications and telecommunication
						transmissions-or essential supplies-such as, food and fuel. The term does not
						include transportation related to long term rehabilitation of damaged physical
						infrastructure or routine commercial deliveries after the initial threat to
						life and property has passed.
Driveaway-towaway operation
-An operation
						in which a motor vehicle constitutes the commodity being transported and one or
						more set of wheels of the vehicle being transported are on the surface of the
						roadway during transportation.
Driver
-A person who drives or is in
						actual physical control of a vehicle.
Driving a vehicle while under the influence of
						alcohol
-Committing one or more of the following acts in a motor
						vehicle:
(i) Driving a motor vehicle
					 while the person's alcohol concentration is .04% or more.
(ii) Driving under the influence of alcohol,
					 as prescribed by Commonwealth law.
(iii) Refusal to undergo testing required in
					 the enforcement of 49 CFR
					 392.5(a)(2) (relating to
					 intoxicating beverage).
Emergency
-A hurricane, tornado,
						storm-for example: thunderstorm, snowstorm, ice storm, blizzard, sandstorm, and
						the like-high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake,
						volcanic eruption, mud slide, drought, forest fire, explosion, blackout or
						other occurrence, natural or man-made, which interrupts the delivery of
						essential services or essential supplies or otherwise immediately threatens
						human life or public welfare, if the hurricane, tornado or other event results
						in one of the following:
(i) A
					 declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States, the Governor
					 of a State or his authorized representatives having authority to declare
					 emergencies; or by other Federal, State or local government officials having
					 authority to declare emergencies.
(ii) A request by a police officer for tow
					 trucks to move wrecked or disabled vehicles.
Emergency relief
-An operation in which a
						motor carrier or driver of a motor vehicle is providing direct assistance to
						supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives or property
						or to protect public health and safety as a result of an emergency as defined
						in this section.
Employe
-One or more of the
						following:
(i) A driver of a motor
					 vehicle.
(ii) A mechanic.
(iii) A freight handler.
(iv) An individual, other than an employe,
					 who is employed by a motor carrier and who in the course of employment directly
					 affects motor vehicle safety.
Employer
-A common or contract motor
						carrier as regulated by the Commission.
Gross combination weight rating
-The
						value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a
						combination.
Gross vehicle weight rating
-The value
						specified on the Federal weight certification label by the manufacturer as the
						loaded weight of a single vehicle.
Gross weight
-The combined weight of a
						vehicle or combination of vehicles and its load excluding the driver's
						weight.
Intermittent, casual or occasional
						driver
-A driver who in any period of 7 consecutive days is employed or
						used as a driver by more than a single motor carrier.
Lightweight vehicle
-A motor vehicle,
						other than a vehicle that is being used to transport passengers for hire; or a
						vehicle that is being used to transport hazardous materials of a type or
						quantity that requires the vehicle to be marked or placarded under
						49 CFR
						177.823 (relating to marking and placarding
						motor vehicles) that was one of the following:
(i) Manufactured on or after January 1, 1972,
					 and has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less,
					 in the case of a single vehicle, or a manufacturer's gross combination weight
					 rating of 10,000 pounds or less, in the case of an articulated
					 vehicle.
(ii) Manufactured before
					 January 1, 1972, and has a gross weight including its load and the gross weight
					 of a vehicle being towed by the motor vehicle of 10,000 pounds or
					 less.
Medical examiner
-A person who is
						licensed, certified or registered, in accordance with applicable state laws and
						regulations, to perform physical examinations.
Motor carrier
-Includes the
						following:
(i)
Common carrier
					 by motor vehicle
-Persons or corporations holding out or undertaking,
					 directly or indirectly, to transport property, or a class of property or
					 passengers between points within this Commonwealth by motor vehicle for
					 compensation, whether or not the owner or operator of the vehicle; or providing
					 or furnishing a motor vehicle with or without driver for transportation or for
					 use in transportation of property as described in this definition, and
					 including common carriers by rail, water or air and express or forwarding
					 public utilities insofar as the common carrier or the public utilities are
					 engaged in the motor vehicle operation, except as expressly exempted by the
					 act.
(ii)
Contract carrier
					 by motor vehicle
-A person or corporation who or which provides or
					 furnishes transportation of property, or a class of property or passengers,
					 between points within this Commonwealth by motor vehicles for compensation
					 whether or not the owner or operator of the motor vehicle, or who or which
					 provides or furnishes with or without driver a motor vehicle for the
					 transportation or for use in the transportation other than as a common carrier
					 by motor vehicle, except as expressly exempted by the act.
Motor vehicle
-A vehicle, machine,
						tractor, trailer or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used
						upon the highways in the transportation of passengers or property, or a
						combination thereof. The term includes a truck, truck tractor or combination
						having a gross vehicle weight rating or registered gross weight in excess of
						10,000 pounds, and a vehicle defined as a bus in this section. For purposes of
						§
											37.205(1)
						(relating to additions or modifications to 49 CFR), this definition does not
						apply. See the definition in § 37.205(1)(ii)(C).
Operator
-See definition of "driver" in
						this section.
Out-of-service order
-A declaration by an
						enforcement officer employed by the Commission that a driver or a motor vehicle
						is out-of-service under §
											37.205(6)(ii),
						(7)(i) or the Commission's Out-of-Service
						Criteria.
Person
-A natural person, firm,
						copartnership, association or corporation.
Principal place of business
-A single
						location designated by the motor carrier, normally its headquarters, where
						records required by this chapter will be maintained. Provisions in this chapter
						are made for maintaining certain records at locations other than the principal
						place of business.
Regularly employed driver
-A driver who,
						in a period of 7 consecutive days is employed or used as a driver solely by a
						single motor carrier.
Residence district
-The territory
						contiguous to and including a highway not comprising a business district when
						the property on the highway for a distance of 300 feet or more is in the main
						improved with residences or residences and buildings in use for
						business.
Trailer
-The term includes:
(i)
Full trailer
-A trailer
					 so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. The
					 term includes a semitrailer attached to a towing vehicle by means of an
					 auxiliary front axle or dolly.
(ii)
Pole trailer
-A motor vehicle which is designed to be drawn by
					 another motor vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or
					 pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, for
					 transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes or
					 structural members, which generally are capable of sustaining themselves as
					 beams between the supporting connections.
(iii)
Semitrailer
-A trailer
					 so constructed that some part of its weight rests upon or is carried by the
					 towing vehicle.
Truck
-A motor vehicle designed, used or
						maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
Truck tractor
-A motor vehicle designed
						and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to
						carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so
						drawn.
Vehicle
-Every device in, upon or by
						which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway,
						except devices used exclusively upon rails or tracks.
The provisions of this §
													37.202 amended under the Public
						  Utility Code,
						  66 Pa.C.S. §
														501.
This section cited in 52 Pa. Code §
													37.203 (relating to effect of
						  incorporation of the
Code of Federal Regulations
); 52 Pa. Code
						  §
													37.204 (relating to adoption of
						  portions of 49 CFR by reference); 52 Pa. Code §
													37.205 (relating to additions or
						  modifications to 49 CFR); and 52 Pa. Code §
													37.271 (relating to
						  application).