A. A motor carrier shall provide safe and adequate service, equipment and facilities for the rendition of transportation services in this state.

B. The commission shall prescribe safety requirements for drivers and for motor vehicles weighing twenty-six thousand pounds or less or carrying fifteen or fewer persons, including the driver, used by intrastate motor carriers operating in this state. The commission may prescribe additional requirements related to safety, including driver safety training programs, vehicle preventive maintenance programs, inquiries regarding the safety of the motor vehicles and drivers employed by a motor carrier, and the appropriateness of the motor vehicles and equipment for the transportation services to be provided by the motor carrier.

C. The New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety may immediately order, without notice or a public hearing, a motor vehicle to be taken out of service for violation of a federal or state law or rule relating to safety if the violation would endanger the public health or safety.

D. The commission shall implement rules requiring carriers to obtain criminal background reports for all employed or contract drivers of certificated service carriers and for all other persons employed by certificated household goods service carriers who enter private dwellings in the course of household goods service.

History: Laws 2003, ch. 359, § 19; 2013, ch. 73, § 17; 2013, ch. 77, § 17; 2017, ch. 109, § 3.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, removed the provision related to drug testing requirements for any person seeking to be a commuter service driver, and replaced "motor transportation division" with "New Mexico state police division" regarding the authority to order a motor vehicle to be taken out of service for certain safety violations; and deleted former Subsection C, which related to drug testing requirements for commuter service drivers, and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, required criminal background reports for drivers and persons employed by household goods carriers; in the title, after "drivers", deleted "used in compensated transportation"; and added Subsection E.