In California, the California Senate is bringing in stronger legislation to ensure that construction truck operators are protected from unscrupulous brokers who do not comply with surety bond regulations.
Since January 2011, California law has required that a broker of construction trucking services post a surety bond to ensure payment to a dump truck operator whose services were brokered. The driver is also required to provide certification of his operator’s permit to the broker.
The brokers must secure a surety bond of at least $15,000 to ensure payment for the operators and the failure to do so is a misdemeanor and could result in up to a $5,000 fine.
The new legislation before the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee would require construction trucking brokers to disclose a copy of their surety bond.
Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, told panel members that the change that would improve transparency in notification requirements.
“There still are very unscrupulous brokers out there that continue to dodge their bonding responsibilities under the law by either never attaining a bond or refusing to provide access to the bond to subhaulers,” de Leon testified. He noted as well that existing law does not include the requirement that brokers notify others of the bond information.
The result will be that if the work has been completed and the broker has not made payment, the dump truck operator can easily access the bond information to file a claim.
In the construction business with the current economic climate, project managers and government departments are more likely to be more concerned about safeguarding projects against unexpected and rising costs and performance failures than ever before. Consequently the need and demand for surety bonds continues to be high.