Texas Vehicle Inspection

[Kirk W]

DH says to ask how to download the magazine online please.

You do have to contact Escapee's office to get the access account set up if you have not done so. So far there is no way to just sign into the member only part without doing that first.

[Blues]

Blues,

 

You're assuming that everyone with a Livingston address would transfer to Florida and stay with Escapees. Not necessarily so.

 

I know I didn't assume that, and I don't think I implied it. I said that people will have to "move" out of Texas. And actually, not all people. I'm sure there are plenty of Escapees mail service customers who winter in Texas, and if they have favorable registration/inspection dates, they can continue as usual.

 

Among those who DO have to get another state, I'm sure there will be some who change to South Dakota (unless they need health insurance), and others will change to Florida, and those will have a choice of Escapees' new mail service there or one of the other ones that is already established. Various factors will enter into the Florida decision, including, I'm sure:

 

1. Ire at Escapees for not doing what they could/should have to prevent this inconvenience to its customers, and therefore an inclination to not want to line Escapees' pockets with one's mail service dollars, and

 

2. Forgiveness for letting this one get by them combined with previous good experience with the mail service itself.

 

I definitely think if the new scheme goes through and people have to change states, Escapees will experience a net loss in mail service customers. And I definitely think that loss will be less, probably much less, than if their Texas mail service was the only one they had to offer.

[skp51443]

Got the magazine back, the mention is on page 32 at the end of Shawn Loring's "Florida a Place to Call Home" article. Not a lot of info other than telling us it will be based at Sumter Oaks for the domicile address and you can keep using your Escapees Mail Service address. It says if you have questions about mail call the club office and ask about Escapees:Home. If you have domicile questions call his staff at 800-260-1615.

 

I wouldn't get too excited about it due to all the hassle that will be involved, far better to sit back, relax and see if they fix the problem before it impacts you. If the problem still exists moving your domicile is pretty easy, far easier than having to move your mail service address.

[Jack Mayer]

I sure hope they resolve it, since SD and FL are two states that are not viable for us. We will have to stay in TX and deal with synching three registrations to a single month and then make sure we get registered/inspected each year until there is a viable option. Probably when I turn 65.

 

SD has no viable insurance for me - The one option does not have an appropriate network for ME. It may work for other people. Plus I do not trust they will continue to support RVers. Just my personal opinion.

 

FL has code in place that precludes me using my truck to pull a 5er without a CDL and all that implies. I gave up my CDL because I did not want or need it.

[TXiceman]

You should have seen the BS I had to put up with to get my diesel truck inspected in Longview. They did not want to inspect it since it had a Harris county sticker (original 2 year sticker) and a Harris county license sticker. We have not received the license since the change of address to Livingston. We had to do the license on line and are awaiting the new sticker.

 

I called the district office in charge of inspections and he said, any station n Texas would do the diesel truck since it was not smogged and only got the safety inspection. I went back with phone number in hand and a copy of the internet receipt showing the Livingston address. Finally got the truck inspected. I wanted to get it done before we headed out of state.

 

The whole system is a mess as best I can tell.

 

Ken

[Phil D]

I'm in very much the same situation as is Jack, except that my schedule is even less predictable.

 

Back when the Escapees Legislative Affairs staff requested input a few months ago, I sent them an extensive description of the situations that can arise, both for "continuous travelers" that would likely find it difficult to get back to Texas on a regular enough basis to keep everything inspected and registered, and for those of us that work "on the road" and have little to no control over both when and how long a period we may be out of the state. I was subsequently told that it would be passed on to the appropriate committee that is expected to consider solutions for the upcoming problems surrounding the new inspection/registration program during the next legislative session.

 

For those that come back to Texas on a regular basis but have one or more vehicles that have registrations that come due when you're likely to be out of state, there is a solution IF you're able to return to Texas once (per vehicle) to fix it. If you renew in person at one of your home county's Assessor/Collector's office (I'm told there is no provision for doing this in conjunction with an online or mail renewal), they are able to sell you more than twelve months' registration, which can put all of your vehicles in the same registration "window" when you're most likely to be "home". In my case I renewed my wife's car for seventeen months, moving the renewal month from June to November, a month in which I'm somewhat more likely to be "at home" than June, and in the month when my pickup is also due.

 

Because my absences are work-related I'm still in need of the same relief that others are looking for during the next legislative session, but moving that one vehicle from June to November helped the situation somewhat.

[Blues]

I was subsequently told that it would be passed on to the appropriate committee that is expected to consider solutions for the upcoming problems surrounding the new inspection/registration program during the next legislative session.

 

That's discouraging. Did they really say it was going to be handled during the legislative session? I assumed they would try to deal with this at the agency rulemaking level, rather than at the legislative level.

 

The problem with the legislative level is time. The session doesn't even start until January 13, 2015, and bills have to go through a process that can be pretty lengthy because it includes assignment to and deliberation by a committee, possibly preparing a fiscal note, public hearings, deliberation and the amendment process, voting in both chambers, etc. That's why there's always a mad rush in May to get things done; not to defend legislators, but some things just take time.

 

Also, bills can't be made effective until 90 days after the session ends (which is why so many laws have a September effective date) unless 2/3 of both the house and senate members vote to allow an earlier effective date.

 

And, in practical terms, it's not likely a bill to change the inspection/registration scheme will ignite such passion among legislators that it gets shepherded through the process a lot faster than bills normally do, and some of the time periods involved in the process simply aren't flexible. The new inspection/registration scheme starts May 1, 2015, and even if a bill DID get passed and signed by the governor before that, it will still take more time to write rules to implement it, change computer programs to reflect the new exemption, etc., before the May 1 deadline. [Edit: It's actually March 1, 2015, which cuts two months off my already pessimistic view.]

 

That's why I assumed they would be tackling this at the agency level, because agencies operate and make rules year-round. The problem is that agency rules have to be within the provisions of the law they're implementing. The legislature makes laws, and gives agencies the authority to make rules that implement those laws. It's a subtle but very important distinction.

 

And even agency rules can't be adopted instantly because they have a process, too, and have be made available for public comment for a period of time.

 

I don't know if there's anything in the law that was passed that could justify an agency rule that somehow provides an exemption for people who are outside the state. I would hope the parties concerned would be exploring that as thoroughly as possible, though, because if it can't be done there, then the legislature is the only option and it's not an attractive one, especially with a May 1 deadline. [Edit: And double especially with a March 1 deadline.]

Edited July 6, 2014 by Blues

[Trucken]

Garages where inspections were done were subject to break-ins by persons looking for blank inspection stickers. So they lobbied for something to be done. IT vendors made the case to DMV/DPS individuals that one database could take care of everything.

Barbara:Where did you find this information.

 

Since I don’t have a dog in this hunt, some one said what could be a solution for full timers and other folks in this situation.

 

Could a solution be to have your vehicle inspected / emission tested at an accreted dealer ship in any State, providing documentation of successfully passing the requirements of TEXAS.

 

Might have to pay twice, still cheaper and less aggravation than driving thousand miles.

 

Trucken

[Phil D]

 

That's discouraging. Did they really say it was going to be handled during the legislative session? I assumed they would try to deal with this at the agency rulemaking level, rather than at the legislative level.

 

 

Yes, that's what I was told. Unfortunately, the changes passed to create the new inspection/registration process explicitly removed the portions of the former law that allowed for inspections to be deferred until the vehicle returned to the state. Presumably that's the reason that a solution can't be obtained via DPS rulemaking, since the current law has no provision for deferrals of any kind. One would think, though, that it would be reasonably simple and uncontroversial to introduce a bill to reinstate the old language, with the addition of a provision stating that the procedure for obtaining a deferral (affidavit, etc.) will be determined by the DPS.

[strawdog]

Could a solution be to have your vehicle inspected / emission tested at an accreted dealer ship in any State, providing documentation of successfully passing the requirements of TEXAS.

 

 

Trucken

 

Not likely, what other state do you think would allow Texas to set requirements on any inspection program that other state set up?

 

Dave

[Phil D]

Could a solution be to have your vehicle inspected / emission tested at an accreted dealer ship in any State, providing documentation of successfully passing the requirements of TEXAS.

 

No, that's not a viable solution for many that may find themselves in this situation.

 

While not widely known, that solution actually existed in the prior law. Texas had an extensive list of states having safety inspection programs that met or exceeded the standards of Texas' program, and an inspection sticker from any state on the list was accepted as legal until expiration by the DPS, even after the vehicle returned to Texas. But there was a two-fold problem with that solution, the first being that it only helps if the Texas resident happened to be in one of those states in his/her travels on a timely basis, and secondly, many of the states that were on the Texas list of acceptable programs won't allow a sticker to be issued for a vehicle that is not registered in that state. Once those states that won't permit the inspection of out-of-state vehicles were "discounted" from Texas' list of acceptable programs, the list was so short that the exception became virtually useless to most affected Texans, as would still be the case were it to be reinstated.

[Blues]

Here's a DPS website that has a Q&A about inspections for Texas-registered vehicles when located in another state:

 

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/VI/texasRegVeh.htm

[Phil D]

That is the list of states (and the District of Columbia) that I referred to in my earlier post. Not all of those jurisdictions, however, as mentioned in the FAQs on that link, will inspect Texas-registered vehicles, and most travelers and out of state workers aren't going to want to have to temporarily register their vehicles in another jurisdiction just to obtain an inspection.

 

That list also becomes moot upon the implementation of Texas' new combined inspection/registration program next year, since the new law, as currently written and on the books, is entirely dependent on either obtaining a certificate of inspection from a Texas inspection station to be physically submitted with the registration renewal, or the inspection station's entry of a record of inspection into the as-yet non-existent, state-run database of vehicle inspections. That's the reason for the urgency to obtain some kind of relief via an amendment to the law implementing the new system very early in the next legislative session. They've created this mess for Texas residents traveling and/or working out of state when their registrations become due precisely because they removed the "obtain an inspection within three days of arrival" and the "obtain a qualifying inspection in another jurisdiction" options in conjunction with the implementation of the new system.

[Barbaraok]

Here's a DPS website that has a Q&A about inspections for Texas-registered vehicles when located in another state:

 

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/VI/texasRegVeh.htm

And all of that will be meaningless next March 1st. That's what all the fuss is about.

 

Barb

[Blues]

And all of that will be meaningless next March 1st. That's what all the fuss is about.

 

Trust me, I'm well aware of what all the fuss is about. I just thought it might be illuminating to see the ins and outs of the procedure Phil was describing, for people who thought getting an out-of-state inspection might be a solution. You know, let the see some sort of primary source for the information.

 

However, I noticed you said "March 1st" and in my previous post about how hard it would to get legislation and agency rules passed in time to get a workable exemption procedure, I said it was May 1. I don't know why--maybe because our RV registration is May.

 

Anyway, now that I'm reminded it's March 1st, well...I just hope the trucking industry has a lot of pull because we're going to need it.

[Mr Bill]

While it might be March 1st that the new law goes into effect, we won't feel the impact until it is time for our new registration to come due.

[strawdog]

After watching this thread unfold for the last 6 months it looks like Texas domicile for full timers is:

 

 

There is a bigger lobby somewhere buying the votes.

 

Dave

Edited July 6, 2014 by Dave & Renee

[Barbaraok]

While it might be March 1st that the new law goes into effect, we won't feel the impact until it is time for our new registration to come due.

Guess what, our's (for the car) is due in March. Yes, I'll renew ahead of time (we will do the inspections this fall when in Texas) but that will be the last time we can do that. So it looks like next summer will be 'moving' time for us if something doesn't happen.

 

Barb

[skp51443]

Actually a big lobby out there buying votes would be better news than what I think the truth is, that the politicians are so stupid and short sighted that they never saw this coming.

[strawdog]

Actually a big lobby out there buying votes would be better news than what I think the truth is, that the politicians are so stupid and short sighted that they never saw this coming.

There is that aspect, but stupid or short sighted as they may be, they ALWAYS swallow follow the money.

 

Dave

Edited July 6, 2014 by Dave & Renee

[English rose]

Hi will be joining the rv community soon and not sure of the language what are tags and the inspection ticket is that like a mot that we have in England ? Is this something I will have to acquire on purchasing my motor home and how much is the cost . Here in England we get an mot for 1year and it is illegal not to have one and you cannot get insured without it .

[Guest Pensauncola]

Actually a big lobby out there buying votes would be better news than what I think the truth is, that the politicians are so stupid and short sighted that they never saw this coming.

 

I doubt that this legislation has much to do with money or stupidity. It appears to be a bureaucratic solution to what is perceived to be a problem. I suspect that the legislators are more familiar with the plight of the over 25 million general population of Texas than a few hundred "residents" who never step foot in the State. I would suggest that the oversight is one of ignorance more than stupidity or greed. It does seem like the bureaucrats who administer the system should know better though.

 

I'm curious, however, about what kind of group would benefit from this new law enough to spend money lobbying for it.

[Kirk W]

Here in England we get an mot for 1year and it is illegal not to have one and you cannot get insured without it .

I'm not sure what an mot is but here in the USA we have license plates on our vehicles, much like yours but those plates are issued not by the national government but by the state of your residential address. Each state sets their own rules but the plates are honored by all other states and in other countries. The cost of the plates is also set by each state and varies quite widely from one to another as do the taxes on them and most anything. In addition, some states also require a safety equipment inspection on an annual bases as well and in this case, Texas is trying to combine the two processes into one and has run into some problems that the legislators failed to consider. That is what the entire debate is about and if they will accommodate the RV traveler or not.

 

To grasp the US system of government you need to understand a little bit of US history in that the country was founded as an alliance of independent nation states who joined forces for things like defense, international business & relations, and some limited other things but each state retained their own sovereignty for internal transactions. Out Civil War was fought mostly over the issue of whether or not one of these states had the right to withdraw from that union. Because of the outcome of that war and for efficiencies of business, travel, and national relations, more and more power has slowly transferred to the federal government while states have lost powers. Even so, the individual states continue to operate many things autonomously, each with their own rules and driving licenses, vehicle registration, and taxes are to a large degree controlled by the state governments.

[TXiceman]

So it looks like next summer will be 'moving' time for us if something doesn't happen.

 

Barb

I doubt if you will be the only one. I sure hate to see Escapees get dropped for mail service.

 

Ken

[skp51443]

 

I doubt that this legislation has much to do with money or stupidity. It appears to be a bureaucratic solution to what is perceived to be a problem. I suspect that the legislators are more familiar with the plight of the over 25 million general population of Texas than a few hundred "residents" who never step foot in the State. I would suggest that the oversight is one of ignorance more than stupidity or greed. It does seem like the bureaucrats who administer the system should know better though.

 

I'm curious, however, about what kind of group would benefit from this new law enough to spend money lobbying for it.

 

A few hundred? I thought the Escapee mail service alone had thousands, then you have all the companies based in Texas with their trucks out of state and who knows how many others.

 

SD is very business friendly and has an entire industry in providing business and trusts with a friendly home base, they'd be glad to see folks move there from Texas.