RV Industry Association Director of State Affairs Michael Ochs testified remotely before the Washington Senate Transportation Committee last week in support of Senate Bill 5824. This legislation would spell out how to correctly measure a fifth-wheel trailer to ensure it stays within the current law limitation of 46 feet.
The bill would set up a measurement calculation which would require the distance between the center of the kingpin and the rearmost extremity of the trailer to be 46 feet or less. If this legislation were to pass, plan approvals in the state will likely have to specify that a fifth wheel is in accordance with this length.
The bill was developed by a coalition of RV dealers in the state who were concerned about being able to sell all lengths of fifth-wheel trailers currently offered by manufacturers due to disapproval of some plans by the Department of Labor and Industries for being overly long. By setting a measurement method for fifth-wheel trailers in state law, these plans should be able to be approved. Four RV dealers also testified in support of the legislation, led by LaDonna Meadows of Tacoma RV, a member of the RV Dealer Association Executive Committee. The Association of Washington Businesses also testified in favor of the bill.
The RV Industry Association also testified in support of a companion bill, House Bill 2467, which was scheduled for a hearing in the House Transportation Committee on Monday, January 26.
The written testimony is available here and can be viewed in video format here. (The hearing on the bill begins at 54:30 and Michael Ochs begins testifying at 58:52.)
