Testimony – Senate Committee Hearing Jan 20, 2010
Jeff Rowsam
Spokesperson representing
Military Vehicle Preservation Association and
Wisconsin Historic Military Vehicle owners
Historic Military Vehicle Collectors wish to submit testimony in favor of registration of former military vehicles:
1) Prefer to support SB 392 with amendment.
2) Will support SB 404 with amendment.
Good Morning,
My name is Jeff Rowsam
I live at 5432 South County Hwy P, Town of New Denmark in Brown County, Wisconsin
I’m speaking today as a historic military vehicle owner and as spokes person on behalf of the individual members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) and the Historic Military Vehicle owners groups in Wisconsin.
Our members include The Midwest Military Vehicle Association (MMVA) from Southern WI, MV collectors of the Fox Valley and North East Wisconsin, the Antigo Area MV owners, The Chippewa Valley Military Preservation Association, LLC (CVMPA) and the Red Arrow Chapter of the MVPA from Northwestern Wisconsin. These groups represent some 600 owners statewide with over 1500 Historic Military Vehicles (HMV’s). The MVPA represents nearly 10,000 members in North America.
Former military vehicles are known for their heavy duty construction and have been sold as surplus equipment by the US and other governments since the 1920’s. Weekly sales continue today. Individuals, municipalities, the DNR, county highway departments, farmers, loggers and utility contractors have a long history of safely and successfully operating former military vehicles in commercial and private on-highway service.
Over the past 20 years, as popularity of WWII history re-emerged, interest by individual preservationists to own and restore these vehicles has evolved and reached the point were it is now a well developed “old car hobby”. The purchase and restoration of these vehicles for historic preservation, public displays, car shows and recreational driving is very active throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe and Australia.
Restored Jeeps and other all wheel drive trucks have been regularly driven to public events such as parades on patriotic holidays, club activities, events honoring our military veterans, and historic displays for schools and the general public. As collector vehicles, our owners also display their vehicles at car shows and enjoy occasional local drives as a form of recreation.
While fewer and fewer former military vehicles are operated in daily commercial service, Historic Military Vehicles (HMV’s) from WWII and Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War and from Operation Desert Storm now have special interest and increasingly are being purchased and restored to their original historic configuration.
In 2007, owners and collectors in Wisconsin saw an increasing number of applications for titles and registration of HMV’s being rejected by the Wisconsin DMV and the DOT. The DMV has been inconsistent. Some registration applications were approved. Others were not. The rejection of applications for models that had been licensed and operated for many years previously has left vehicle owners confused and frustrated.
The Department of Transportation states they are receiving an increasing volume of applications for registration of many different unique vehicles, both foreign and domestic, with a wide variety of ages and designs and they include former military vehicles in that list. They sight a raised concern about what is suitable for safe operation on Wisconsin highways.
The on-highway use of wheeled military vehicles is well known. The historic military vehicles we seek to preserve have the same equipment needed to meet the requirements of Wisconsin Admin Rule Trans 305 which specifies the minimum equipment for any motor vehicle in order to be registered in Wisconsin.
We know of no fatalities in Wisconsin involving privately owned HMV’s. There is no data to indicate increased rates of civilian collisions or injuries involving HMV’s in Wisconsin and there is no public protest demanding that Historic Military Vehicles be prohibited. The DOT’s concern that these vehicles pose a higher risk to public safety than other civilian vehicles is unsupported.
As collectors we place a high value on our historic vehicles, often spend many months and large sums to complete a restoration. They operate with greater caution over limited miles to preserve their value. Most collector owned HMV’s operate less than 300 miles per year.
A solution that would allow the continued use of HMV’s in Wisconsin is needed. Beginning in 2007, HMV owners give input and listened to legislative contacts and conducted an extensive dialog with DOT administrators to gain understanding of all sides of the issue. This resulted in the creation of SB 404. And its companion bill AB 592.
SB 404 addresses the specific objections of the DOT and creates a bill that would not be opposed by most HMV collectors. The restrictive wording for limiting HMV use to public events and parades and for maintenance is an excessive restriction that is opposed by our membership. Like SB 392, the SB 404 bill would create a needed definition for the preservation of Historic Military Vehicles and would solve registration issues for preservationist owners and resolve many confusing title and registration issues for DMV officials.
SB 404 overcomes the DOT’s concern that under collector rules, HMV owners would have unlimited daily vehicle use. Daily use is allowed under collector vehicle registrations. SB 404 creates a new, distinct and separate HMV category with a distinctive plate that could allow continued use of former military vehicles in a historic role and satisfy the DOT’s concern for public safety by restricting use to a profile similar to antique vehicle registrations. That is, to limit use of their HMV’s to a few hundred miles per year.
SB 404 addresses the needs of Historic Preservation and the DOT concern for public safety by:
1) Simplifying registration for vehicle owners and the DMV by providing a single MV
category.
2) It allows HMV’s to be operated with limitations.
The current wording to allow driving for “necessary testing and maintenance” does not meet the collector expectation for occasional short local recreational drives. We recommend that the restriction be amended to a less restrictive profile that allows some type of recreational use.
3) Eliminates the previous requirement for U.S. MV’s to be specified age or vintage.
a. The US military does not recognize model year. Many vehicles are sold by the US government with an incorrect year or notation “date of manufacture unknown” on the documents.
b. It retains the 25 year age requirement for imported former military vehicles which is in line with federal regulations that exempt imported vehicles from NHTSA safety rules for imported vehicles more than 25 years old. A DOT issue.
4) Under current DOT policy, all MV’s are prohibited, Including commercial and governmental use. SB 404 creates a provision to allow municipal users to own
and operate former MV’s in special applications such as rural fire fighting and
emergency government, but limits the public exposure by limiting operation to their local areas and low mile use applications.
5) The distinctive license plate allows law enforcement to distinguish privately owned
HMV’s from the active service military fleet.
6) Establishes a single HMV data base to track the future safety record of HMV’s
separate from the general collector car category.
Both SB 392 and SB 404 provide for the continued use of HMV’s and both have some restrictions.
The provisions of SB 392 would be easier to implement, would not require the cancelation and transfer of existing registrations and meets the operating profile of collector vehicle owners.
SB 392 would be the preferred legislation with less restrictions for owners.
SB 404 is acceptable legislation but is more restrictive to vehicle owners.
On behalf of the many owners of Historic Military Vehicles through out Wisconsin, we respectfully submit that both SB 392 and SB 404 be given consideration.
Thank You. For the
Respectfully, Military Vehicle Preservation Association and Wisconsin Military Vehicle Collectors
