Its Illegal to Hulk Haul in the State of Washington without a haulers permit

**WashingtonScrapper** · 07-30-2014, 03:13 PM

First post on this site, and just wanted to get the word out, that I am currently facing a gross misdemeanor for hauling a vehicle to a scrap yard. The scrap yard will buy from me even without the permit (that I didnt know I needed). So my question is, how the heck was I supposed to know I needed a permit? and for this to be a gross misd. WOW! Has anyone else had this issue or been in this kind of trouble? I am curious how thier situation turned out! My lawyer (expensive) has advised me that I had 3 options, take the gross misd. pay the $5000 and face up to a year in jail, or take the Gross Misd. and 1 year of classes plus whatever fines the court sticks me with, or the third option is to attempt to obtain my hulk haulers liscense and pay some fees to the court and pray that the judge drops my charges down to some kind of a misd. without the gross attachment. You can imagine I am choosing the 3rd option as it will not lable me as a criminal, plus I would be more than happy to own a $10 permit. The problem has been getting ahold of all the people you need to to get the permit. Zoning enforcement, city chief of police, and sherrifs office for vehicle inspection. What a hassle. Ill keep you posted if interested.

**sledge** · 07-30-2014, 04:57 PM

Wow.. never heard of such laws. Definitely, keep us posted. We all may get an education out of it!
Good Luck to you man!

**JohnC4X4** · 07-30-2014, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by WashingtonScrapper

So my question is, how the heck was I supposed to know I needed a permit?

Ignorance of the law is no excuse

Was this the first time you were stopped?
Or had they already given you a couple warnings

**hobo finds** · 07-30-2014, 05:32 PM

Wait a $10.00 permit or if caught
pay the $5000 and face up to a year in jail

**JohnC4X4** · 07-30-2014, 05:38 PM

Washington State looks like a tough place to scrap vehicles

This goes back 6 years >> almost to the day
Jul 29, 2008

According to state law, a hulk hauler is “any person who deals in vehicles for the sole purpose of transporting and/or selling them to a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor in substantially the same form in which they are obtained. A hulk hauler may not sell secondhand motor vehicle parts to anyone other than a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor.”
Taken from >> Illegal 'hulk haulers' emerge in Island County as price of metals rises - Whidbey News-Times

The Law itself >> Chapter 46.79 RCW
HULK HAULERS AND SCRAP PROCESSORS

Chapter 46.79 RCW: HULK HAULERS AND SCRAP PROCESSORS

The 14 page manual that explains all the rules and what paper work needs to be completed for each transaction
http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/vehic...cs/HulkMan.pdf

and How to get your license: Hulk hauler
WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: How to get your hulk hauler license

**deno** · 07-30-2014, 06:06 PM

Wow....

**happyscraper** · 07-30-2014, 09:06 PM

Does this apply to only cars and trucks? Maybe you could cut the cars up and sell them in peaces or get out of the car business. Every scrapper should know the laws before hand. Your yard should provide a list of laws that apply to you.

**JohnC4X4** · 07-30-2014, 09:15 PM

Originally Posted by happyscraper

Your yard should provide a list of laws that apply to you.

Sorry
But NOT the yards concern or problem

**taterjuice** · 07-30-2014, 09:18 PM

Or maybe govt shouldn't regulate all the money out of every industry.

**scrapme** · 07-30-2014, 09:58 PM

This is one of those situations where you wouldn't even think that you would have to think of the possibility of such laws!
Sounds like one of those ridiculous laws that's on the book' but no one bothers to enforce unless there's a complaint or someone's undies get in a wad.
But I believe State laws vary. Has WA had a high rate of vehicle thefts, piecing, and scrapping??

Thanks for the heads up! Sorry you're having to deal with that. As has been said, pls. keep us all posted. As scrapping continues to spread the hands reaching to regulate and control will also widen, making it ever more important to keep each other updated with pertinent (even if ridiculous) laws. JMHO.

EDit to add: after replying, noticed another similar post listed at the bottom of the page. It answered my q's about vehicle thefts and scrapping in WA. It was posted in 2011 by tjtat. But glad the topic is again current, could save other scrappers major hardship.

**Soobthang** · 08-04-2014, 09:21 AM

Challange the citation, if the cop doesn't show the judge throws it out. Just another BS tax scam to me. Highway robbery.

**scrapme** · 08-04-2014, 01:28 PM

Dont know if it's the same in WA., but in AL. if you challenge a ticket/citation & lose, you pay the court costs on top of the citation amount. Seems like the deck is stacked against us sometimes….

It's a gamble.

**Soobthang** · 08-04-2014, 01:51 PM

It's all a money game. Quotas to be met, revenue to be generated.

**Immulmen** · 08-04-2014, 02:58 PM

"According to state law, a hulk hauler is “any person who deals in vehicles for the sole purpose of transporting and/or selling them to a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor in substantially the same form in which they are obtained. A hulk hauler may not sell secondhand motor vehicle parts to anyone other than a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor.”"

The way I read this is if I buy a car to get the engine to replace a bad one in a car I already have, and sell some parts on eBay, I can not take the rest to a junk yard. I would have to hire a "Hulk Hauler". If I was a Hulk Hauler I could buy a car, use the engine in my other car and take it to the scrap yard BUT I could not sell any parts off it.
I am Glad I don't live there!

**MattInTheHat** · 08-04-2014, 07:30 PM

was the vehicle titled to you, or did you buy it for the purpose of scrapping it?

**armstrt8** · 08-04-2014, 11:35 PM

"According to state law, a hulk hauler is “any person who deals in vehicles for the sole purpose of transporting and/or selling them to a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor in substantially the same form in which they are obtained. A hulk hauler may not sell secondhand motor vehicle parts to anyone other than a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor.”"

Couldn't you argue that you were bringing the vehicle home for personal use? As in, you were going to attempt to repair it? That way you wouldn't be "transporting and/or selling to a licensed wrecker or scrap processor"

**matador** · 08-17-2014, 01:20 AM

Originally Posted by armstrt8

"According to state law, a hulk hauler is “any person who deals in vehicles for the sole purpose of transporting and/or selling them to a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor in substantially the same form in which they are obtained. A hulk hauler may not sell secondhand motor vehicle parts to anyone other than a licensed vehicle wrecker or scrap processor.”"

Couldn't you argue that you were bringing the vehicle home for personal use? As in, you were going to attempt to repair it? That way you wouldn't be "transporting and/or selling to a licensed wrecker or scrap processor"

Did you take any major parts off of it? Good, you did. You bought a donor car to fix the transmission in mom's Oldsmobile.
Did you own the vehicle for a few weeks? Good. You had one as a kid. It's a project vehicle that had [some terminal failure]

I'd look into the "sole puropse" thing. If you scavenged stuff off of it for your own use, you should be in the clear. If you bought it earlier that day, I'm out of thoughts right now.

Its Illegal to Hulk Haul in the State of Washington without a haulers permit

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