State transportation regulators prepare for a new home, more resources

Mar. 8—The small group of investigators that oversees New Mexico's regulated motor carriers — from tow trucks to ambulances and everything in between — is getting ready to double in size and get a new home.

Starting in July, the state Public Regulation Commission's Transportation Division will become part of the Department of Transportation, said Alicia Ortiz, acting executive director of the department's Modal Program.

The move will involve hiring five new investigators, who will join the current team of five to look into consumer and industry complaints as well as perform regular inspections for regulated motor carriers, Ortiz said. The administrative shuffle has been in the works for nearly a year and has entailed "quite a lengthy process," Ortiz said. Nevertheless, most New Mexicans will barely notice the difference, she said.

"We for sure are trying to make this as seamless as possible for the ultimate end user," Ortiz said. "... If anything, there might be an opportunity for increased enforcement of the state and federal regulations that will contribute more greatly to public safety."

Background, effects

The plan to move transportation industry oversight to the Transportation Department was set by a legislative measure last year.

But Sen. Steven Neville, an Aztec Republican and one of the measure's co-sponsors, said it's actually just one piece of a larger, yearslong effort to streamline the Public Regulation Commission. The goal, Neville said, is to allow its regulators to focus on utilities, like Public Service Company of New Mexico and New Mexico Gas Co., which operate as near-monopolies in the state.

Over the years, the PRC has shed its other duties, Neville said. Regulation of insurance, for example, has been housed under the Office of Superintendent of Insurance since 2013, and the New Mexico secretary of state now handles oversight of corporations.

"The PRC was overburdened with all the junk they had to deal with ... and their staff was all over the place," Neville said in an interview this week. "This is tightening up the PRC."

With the exception of those filing complaints about regulated companies — a moving company that damaged someone's belongings, perhaps, or a truck not taking safety precautions while transporting a heavy tank of water — Ortiz said most New Mexicans never have a reason to interact with transportation regulators.

But a number of companies do, including firms that operate limousines, taxis, ambulances, tours and sightseeing vehicles. Even repossession services have to apply to begin operating, Ortiz said, and must undergo regular inspections to keep their certifications in order. That accounts for more than 2,300 companies in New Mexico.

The division also oversees four "transportation networks" that operate in the state: Uber, Lyft, Kanga and Silver Rides.

In addition to the investigative team, the Department of Transportation is absorbing the division's application and compliance bureaus. The division will have 23 employees in all, Ortiz said.

Johnny Johnson, executive director of the New Mexico Trucking Association, said he expects the change to be seamless. He noted the Department of Transportation already oversees the state's ports of entry, in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety.

"We as an association and an industry have a really good working relationship with the NMDOT," Johnson said. "So I think it's going to be beneficial for us because we have pretty much an open dialogue."

Johnson said the department's plan to double its investigators, increasing its capacity for monitoring and disciplining bad actors, is welcome news.

"If I owned a company and I paid all my taxes, all my trucks were licensed correctly and permitted as they should be, and I'm competing with a guy that's not ... and he can do it cheaper, in my opinion, [having more investigators] levels the playing field," Johnson said.