Attempted Minutes of Today's Meeting
Take Aways from Today’s Mtg
The meeting consisted of 4 owners and 4 dmv administrators but not the commissioner and Sen. Hewitt. Another person did pop in later and was never introduced.
How did we get here?
In another thread UNDYSWORLD hit the nail on the head. There is a national policy association/non profit of dmv administrators. They have pushed an agenda out there to all states and some are reacting to it. Basically they are calling all military trucks as unworthy and not meeting safety standards. Also there is an issue if they are allowed on Federal funded roads and Interstates? The topic of GP off road hmmwv titles also is part of this agenda but not the sole driving force. All trucks are lumped into one category.
LA DMV's Position
The LA dmv does not feel there is a clear and legal path to license & title any military vehicle in La. and a law needs to be passed to give clear legal language to all mv wheeled trucks. They are not totally against owning trucks and seem very receptive to help and want to do it “right”. They are the gate keepers providing technical assistance on La dmv statues, federal laws, AND BEST PRACTICES of other states to the senators. They are keenly aware of other states efforts and recent laws. They also are aware that many trucks have been registered in the past but feel they are not on legal ground with a statue to back them up. The Stencil law is not a clear path to registration or Title but just a provision not to use a plate.
Only 52 revocation letters have been sent and no more are planned presently. I tried to ask what was the criteria and I am afraid either the question was not answered or I did not understand the reply mixed in with all the dialogues.
As expected, La has modeled this bill with Virginia’s new law. Virginia’s law is based on language from the American Collector’s Insurance. Those who might have a policy from them, might need to evaluate your carrier. LA dmv feels this is a “good” law and feel restrictions are workable. They seem to like this one better than others. I requested they look at Idaho HB506 amongst others.
Sen Hewitt is an advocate and approachable
Sen. Hewitt clearly wants to help the owners and is not a roadblock but an advocate. But she is relying on dmv for expert advise on the technicalities , existing statues, and proposed language. I inferred she will not do anything counter to dmv’s advise. She wants to establish a path. I did not feel she wants restrictions but if dmv does, then she will not go against their advise.
Other ramblings
All 4 owners explained what we do with these trucks and tried to educate the difference from a WWII jeep, deuce, 5 ton, cucv to a hmmwv. We tried to explain the differences but in their mind they are all one big lump. I did explain that GP sells USMC hmmwv’s without restrictions for a premium price and I would say 4 sets of eyeballs got wide and pens were scratching paper. I did advocate against all restrictions but dmv does not seem willing to say zero restrictions. We briefly talked about equipment standards but nothing in the bill looks to be problematic.
Long technical discussion of fmvvs , 1180, AMG, Hummers, etc and federal standards also took place.
I did advocate a Grandfather clause to cover preexisting owners before a new law is enacted.
Potential GEM
There seemed to be some wiggle room from dmv on allowing self certification possibly by an ASE mechanic to allow compliance to standards. The bad is that the issue of Emissions compliance for the 4 parishes that require it came up. They were not aware that the vast majority of trucks are Diesel. The question of how owners in those 4 parishes would comply was left dangling? This could provide a path.
Final Thoughts
Only one hour was allocated to the mtg. On final wrap ups; They wanted only one owner to represent everyone (not me) and work with one administrator to iron out language and possible compromise(s) to submit to the senator.
They do want to present something to committee next week and bring to a vote.
I would rather the other 3 owners post if they desire but will keep them private until they chime in.
Please do not shoot the messenger/ reporting clerk.
I have tried to report what has happened with very few of my personal beliefs to muddy the water.
I have not given my opinions yet here on ss as I want to see what develops from these point to point discussions and do not want to poison the well just yet. I and others have more wrenches in our tool boxes
and as they say “It ain’t over till someone sings….”
I did stay at Holiday Inn once and in dire need to go to the French Quarter and visit Pat O”Brien’s and consume a hurricane(s) as my head still hurts…..
