Committee to refine trailer-manufacturers licensing bill after industry testimony and legal questions

Representative Ford presented House Bill 590 to the Regulated Industries Committee, proposing a state board of trailer manufacturers to license and inspect manufacturers, enforce compliance and provide a single oversight authority for trailer production.

Ford said the board would enforce laws already on the books and establish licensing and inspection to protect consumers and legitimate manufacturers. Hal Baxley of Freedom Trailers and chair of the Georgia Association of Trailer Manufacturers testified that unlicensed operations and cash labor were producing trailers that compromise safety and undercut law-abiding businesses. “We’re not trying to create any new laws,” Baxley told the committee. “All we want is the oversight.” He said the trailer-manufacturing sector in Georgia is substantial and that oversight would…