Comment Log Display

I have been a Licensed Contractor in California for over 33 years. 
I have been in the Concrete Cutting Industry for over 40 years.  As
an employer, we are a Union Contractor with about 50+ full time
Union Employees.  

Your regulations as adopted for this type of equipment are way to
complicated for us to conform to and will require hiring somone to
consult us on what to do and when to do it.  That simply is not an
option for me.

Our company and many others just like it, big and small alike,
have to have certain off-road power units to run our equipoment to
do our job.  Sometimes those run all day, sometimes only an hour a
day and some days not at all, depending on the type work we are
scheduled to do.  Therefore, our equipment lasts for a number of
years before it is ready to be replaced.  That holds true to most
all off-road equipment because depending on your workload, it may
sit for weeks or months at a time, until you have work for it.  We
have some units that are just backup units to use when we are
servicing or repairing one of our line units, that may not work
more than a handful of days a year.

We are constantly purchasing new equipment and trucks to upgrade
our fleet and equipment and do so on a regular basis.  However, we
do that knowing what we can afford in payments and try to keep that
under control at all time.  Your regulations would put much of the
equipment that is only 2-5 years old at risk and would force us to
turn that over well before it has run its life cycle.  That means
our monthly equipment & truck payments will go right through the
roof because no one can afford to buy these things outright and
still stay in business.  We finance them over long periods of time
to keep the payments in line and to even come close to complying
with your specs, many will have to discard fairly new equipment
and replace it with new equipment just to stay in business.  When
equipment sits as much as it works in most cases, that is a costly
and possibly disasterous move.  

Many companies will not be able to afford it, others won't comply
and the fall out will be the loss of high-paying construction jobs
at the least.  Plus, the revenues generated by the taxes paid by
those high-paid construction workers.  

As a Union Contractor, we compete at a very high level for our
work and against many so-called contractors who don't pay union
wages or hire off-street, illegal workers to do their work and
take that work away from our Union Employees.

We cannot begin to compete if we have to push our prices any
higher because the market just won't allow it, which means Union
Workers are going to be laid off.  There is no option for us to
just raise our prices to offset the costs, so we either take it
out of profits if we make any, or simply close our doors.  Many
will chose to do the latter!

Another problem with this regulation is the impact it will have on
construction equipment and truck markets.  If your proposed
regulation goes through as suggested, those that will comply will
have to start selling off good, reliable equipment that will work
elsewhere for years.  Unfortunately, once you have to sell
equipment, the value goes to rock bottom and many will have to
salvage or scrap their older equipment because there won't be a
market for them anywhere in California.  Equipment and trucks that
are used but in good shape will flood the market all across the
country and drive new Equipment & Truck Dealers out of business. 
Those who make a living in California selling used trucks and
equipment will go away because there won't be any market for it!

Net loss of billions of dollars in sales tax revenue for this
State, loss of high-paying jobs and the taxes that go with them as
well as sales tax, property tax and business tax for those who
choose not to work here anymore.  This is going to be Devastating
to our economy and the livelyhood of those who work for us and
every other company who performs Construction work, especially
heavy equipment oriented companies.  Engineering, Grading, Bridge,
Highway Construction, Demolition, Etc. will really be hit hard
because none of the equipment that they use and would have to buy
is cheap! 

Personally, with trying to keep our fleet of trucks and equipment
turned over on a regular basis is difficult enough as it is.  Add
in double, triple or quadruple payments to try to comply with your
timeframe and we are all out of business.

In my 33 years in business, I have never heard the resentment and
disguest for those in our California Government over any issue
like this one!  Business owners, staff employees, field employees,
union members, association heads, you name it and they are really
upset about this proposed law.  Rightly so too, because you are
going to cripple the highest paying job market in this state
without any regard to the consequences of your actions or the
not-proven idiology that what you are going to do is really going
to help anything!

Add in the proposed Diesel Truck Regs and you set off still
another firestorm from those who provice much needed services for
all without any consideration for their well being or the
hardships that you are going to create.

Must I remine anyone in State Governement that we have right now a
15 billion budget shorfall this year.  What do you think is going
to happen when you start adding several billion more loss of
revenue to it and take on the responsibliy of unemployment
insurance, benefits & heathcare for those who will be affected by
this the most?  

You are proposing changing the rules of the game after the game
has started becuase most of the newer equipment we purchased in
the past 3 years, will not be of any value in a very short time
with no market to sell it in either.  

I stongly oppose this as it is written as does most everyone I
know in construction, equipment and trucking.  You need to get
together with both the industry and end users to work out
something that will not cripple our economy!  And, anything that
you do work out has to be for future equipment, not existing and
there must be a tax credit for local and state taxes too.  If not,
then for sure you will create an even deeper and more hostile work
environment in this state.

One thing that you must remember, you work for us, we don't work
for you!  You don't pay our wages, we pay yours!  You have a job
to make the lives of all California Taxpayers better, not worse! 
You also have an obligation to California Businesses to help
create opportunity, not diminish it!

Best regards,
Weldon Birch, Pres.
Cal West Concrete Cutting, Inc.