---
title: SB 283. Certification of Motor Carriers; authority of the Department of Public Safety to establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges; repeal
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb283
cite_as: SB 283, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb283
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb283.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb283/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70925
date: 2025-02-27
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb283.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 283
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-26
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Ricky Williams
  - Carden Summers
  - Lee Anderson
  - Russ Goodman
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB283/2025
upstream_id: 1986174
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - motor carrier regulation
  - moving companies
  - transportation rates
  - Department of Public Safety
---

# SB 283. Certification of Motor Carriers; authority of the Department of Public Safety to establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges; repeal

## Text

Senate Bill 283
By: Senators Williams of the 25th, Summers of the 13th, Anderson of the 24th and Goodman
of the 8th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to certification of motor carriers, so as to repeal the authority of the
Department of Public Safety to establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for
transportation by motor carriers of household goods; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to certification of motor carriers, is amended by repealing in its entirety Code
Section 40-1-118, relating to establishment of rates, fares, and charges for transportation of
household goods, and designating said Code section as reserved.
SECTION 2.
Said part is further amended by revising Code Section 40-1-119, relating to charges by motor
carriers and unjust discrimination by carriers prohibited, as follows:
"40-1-119.
No motor carrier of <del>household goods or</del> passengers shall charge, demand, collect, or
receive a greater or lesser or different compensation for the transportation of <del>household
goods or</del> passengers or for any service rendered in connection therewith than the rates,
fares, and charges prescribed or approved by order of the department; nor shall any such
motor carrier unjustly discriminate against any person in its rates, fares, or charges for
service. The commissioner may prescribe, by general order, to what persons motor carriers
of passengers may issue passes or free transportation; may prescribe reduced rates for
special occasions; and may fix and prescribe rates and schedules."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia Senate bill would end the Department of Public Safety's authority to set rates that moving companies charge for hauling household goods, while leaving its rate-setting power over passenger transportation in place.

### Plain-language summary

Under current Georgia law, the Department of Public Safety can set the rates, fares, and charges that motor carriers are allowed to charge for moving household goods, similar to how it regulates passenger transportation companies. This bill would remove that authority for household goods movers.
Section 1 repeals O.C.G.A. § 40-1-118, the code section that lets the department establish rates for household goods carriers, and marks it as reserved for future use. Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-1-119 to strip out references to household goods, so the rule against charging different rates than the department prescribes, and the ban on unjust discrimination, would apply only to passenger carriers going forward. Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. The bill does not state a specific future effective date beyond standard enactment.

### What it does

- Repeals O.C.G.A. § 40-1-118 entirely, eliminating the Department of Public Safety's power to set rates, fares, and charges for household goods movers.
- Rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-1-119 to remove household goods from the rule requiring carriers to charge only department-approved rates, applying that rule only to passenger carriers.
- Removes household goods from the unjust discrimination prohibition, leaving that protection in place only for passenger transportation customers.
- Keeps the department's authority over passenger carrier passes, reduced-rate occasions, and rate schedules unchanged.

### Who it affects

Household goods moving companies (motor carriers that transport furniture and belongings) would no longer have their rates regulated by the state. The Department of Public Safety loses regulatory authority in this area, while passenger transportation carriers and their customers remain subject to existing rate rules.

### Why it matters

Household goods movers would gain more freedom to set their own prices without state-approved rate schedules, which could change how moving costs are determined for Georgia consumers. Passenger transportation rate regulation and anti-discrimination protections would remain unaffected.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 repeals Code Section 40-1-118 in its entirety and designates it as reserved, removing the department's rate-setting power over household goods carriers.
- Section 2 revises Code Section 40-1-119 by deleting references to household goods, limiting the rate-charging and anti-discrimination rules to passenger carriers only.
- Section 2 preserves the commissioner's authority to set passenger carrier passes, reduced rates for special occasions, and rate schedules.
- Section 3 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-26)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-27)
- Sponsors: Ricky Williams, Carden Summers, Lee Anderson, Russ Goodman
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70925

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb283.md?full=1
