Chong

In this appeal we conclude that Public Utilities Code section 3631, which requires regulated highway carriers to provide liability protection, does not require vehicle liability policies to cover work-related injuries sustained by the vehicle owner’s employees.

Vernon Chong (hereafter appellant) appeals a summary judgment holding that Fremont Indemnity Company (hereafter respondent), as liability insurer of appellant’s employer’s truck, had no duty to provide coverage to the employer for bodily injuries sustained by appellant in a work-related accident. Appellant contends the vehicle liability policy issued by respondent, which excluded coverage for injuries to the insured’s employees arising in the course of employment, violated Public Utilities Code section 3631. We disagree and affirm. We also dismiss respondent’s cross-appeal from a sanction order as untimely.

This coverage dispute arises out of an accident occurring when a vehicle owned by appellant’s employer, Leonard Piazza, doing business as Piazza Trucking Company (hereafter Piazza), and operated by appellant, went out of control on Highway 5 near Coalinga and crashed into a ravine. As a consequence, appellant…