II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1957

To amend chapter 59 of title 49, United States Code, relating to intermodal

safe container transportation.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 16, 1996

Mr. PRESSLER (for himself, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend chapter 59 of title 49, United States Code,

relating to intermodal safe container transportation.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intermodal Safe Con5 tainer Transportation Amendments Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

9 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi10 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
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1 section or other provision of title 49 of the United States

2 Code.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 Section 5901 (relating to definitions) is amended—

5 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this chap8 ter, the definitions in section 13102 of this title

9 apply.’’;

10 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as

11 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the follow13 ing:

14 ‘‘(6) ‘gross cargo weight’ means the weight of

15 the cargo, packaging materials (including ice), pal16 lets, and dunnage.’’.

17 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION.

18 (a) PRIOR NOTIFICATION.—Subsection (a) of section

19 5902 (relating to prior notification) is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Before a person tenders to a

21 first carrier for intermodal transportation a’’ and in22 serting ‘‘If the first carrier to which any’’;

23 (2) by striking ‘‘10,000 pounds (including pack24 ing material and pallets), the person shall give the

25 carrier a written’’ and inserting ‘‘29,000 pounds is
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1 tendered for intermodal transportation is a motor

2 carrier, the person tendering the container or trailer

3 shall give the motor carrier a’’;

4 (3) by striking ‘‘trailer.’’ and inserting ‘‘trailer

5 before the tendering of the container or trailer.’’;

6 (4) by striking ‘‘electronically.’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘electronically or by telephone.’’; and

8 (5) by adding at the end thereof the following:

9 ‘‘This subsection applies to any person within the

10 United States who tenders a container or trailer

11 subject to this chapter for intermodal transportation

12 if the first carrier is a motor carrier.’’.

13 (b) CERTIFICATION.—Subsection (b) of section 5902

14 (relating to certification) is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who tenders a

17 loaded container or trailer with an actual gross

18 cargo weight of more than 29,000 pounds to a first

19 carrier for intermodal transportation shall provide a

20 certification of the contents of the container or trail21 er in writing, or electronically, before or when the

22 container or trailer is so tendered.

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF CERTIFICATION.—The cer24 tification required by paragraph (1) shall include—

25 ‘‘(A) the actual gross cargo weight;
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1 ‘‘(B) a reasonable description of the con2 tents of the container or trailer;

3 ‘‘(C) the identity of the certifying party;

4 ‘‘(D) the container or trailer number; and

5 ‘‘(E) the date of certification or transfer of

6 data to another document, as provided for in

7 paragraph (3).

8 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER OF CERTIFICATION DATA.—A

9 carrier who receives a certification may transfer the

10 information contained in the certification to another

11 document or to electronic format for forwarding to

12 a subsequent carrier. The person transferring the in13 formation shall state on the forwarded document the

14 date on which the data was transferred and the

15 identity of the party who performed the transfer.

16 ‘‘(4) SHIPPING DOCUMENTS.—For purposes of

17 this chapter, a shipping document, prepared by the

18 person who tenders a container or trailer to a first

19 carrier, that contains the information required by

20 paragraph (2) meets the requirements of paragraph

21 (1).

22 ‘‘(5) USE OF ‘FREIGHT ALL KINDS’ TERM.—

23 The term ‘Freight All Kinds’ or ‘FAK’ may not be

24 used for the purpose of certification under section

25 5902(b) after December 31, 2000, as a commodity
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1 description for a trailer or container if the weight of

2 any commodity in the trailer or container equals or

3 exceeds 20 percent of the total weight of the con4 tents of the trailer or container. This subsection

5 does not prohibit the use of the term after that date

6 for rating purposes.

7 ‘‘(6) SEPARATE DOCUMENT MARKING.—If a

8 separate document is used to meet the requirements

9 of paragraph (1), it shall be conspicuously marked

10 ‘INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION’.

11 ‘‘(7) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection applies

12 to any person, domestic or foreign, who first tenders

13 a container or trailer subject to this chapter for

14 intermodal transportation within the United

15 States.’’.

16 (c) FORWARDING CERTIFICATIONS.—Subsection (c)

17 of section 5902 (relating to forwarding certifications to

18 subsequent carriers) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘transportation.’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘transportation before or when the loaded inter21 modal container or trailer is tendered to the subse22 quent carrier. If no certification is received by the

23 subsequent carrier before or when the container or

24 trailer is tendered to it, the subsequent carrier may

25 presume that no certification is required.’’; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following:

2 ‘‘If a person inaccurately transfers the information

3 on the certification, or fails to forward the certifi4 cation to a subsequent carrier, then that person is

5 liable to any person who incurs any bond, fine, pen6 alty, cost (including storage), or interest for any

7 such fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or inter8 est incurred as a result of the inaccurate transfer of

9 information or failure to forward the certification. A

10 subsequent carrier who incurs a bond, fine, penalty,

11 or cost (including storage), or interest as a result of

12 the inaccurate transfer of the information, or the

13 failure to forward the certification, shall have a lien

14 against the contents of the container or trailer under

15 section 5905 in the amount of the bond, fine, pen16 alty, or cost (including storage), or interest and all

17 court costs and legal fees incurred by the carrier as

18 a result of such inaccurate transfer or failure.’’.

19 (d) LIABILITY.—Section 5902 is amended by redesig20 nating subsection (d) as subsection (e), and by inserting

21 after subsection (c) the following:

22 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY TO OWNER OR BENEFICIAL

23 OWNER.—If—

24 ‘‘(1) a person inaccurately transfers informa25 tion on a certification required by subsection (b)(1),
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1 or fails to forward a certification to the subsequent

2 carrier;

3 ‘‘(2) as a result of the inaccurate transfer of

4 such information or a failure to forward a certifi5 cation, the subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine,

6 penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest; and

7 ‘‘(3) that subsequent carrier exercises its rights

8 to a lien under section 5905,

9 then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner,

10 or to any other person paying the amount of the lien to

11 the subsequent carrier, for the amount of the lien and all

12 costs related to the imposition of the lien, including court

13 costs and legal fees incurred in connection with it.

14 (e) NONAPPLICATION.—Subsection (e) of section

15 5902, as redesignated, is amended—

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as

17 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and

18 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes19 ignated, the following:

20 ‘‘(1) The notification and certification require21 ments of subsections (a) and (b) of this section do

22 not apply to any intermodal container or trailer con23 taining consolidated shipments loaded by a motor

24 carrier if that motor carrier—
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1 ‘‘(A) performs the highway portion of the

2 intermodal movement; or

3 ‘‘(B) assumes the responsibility for any

4 weight-related fine or penalty incurred by any

5 other motor carrier that performs a part of the

6 highway transportation.’’.

7 SEC. 5. PROHIBITIONS.

8 Section 5903 (relating to prohibitions) is amended—

9 (1) by inserting after ‘‘person’’ a comma and

10 the following: ‘‘to whom section 5902(b) applies,’’;

11 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the

12 following:

13 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI14 CATION.—

15 ‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION.—If no certification is received

16 by a motor carrier before or when a loaded intermodal con17 tainer or trailer is tendered to it, the motor carrier may

18 presume that the gross cargo weight of the container or

19 trailer is less than 29,001 pounds.

20 ‘‘(2) COPY OF CERTIFICATION NOT REQUIRED TO AC21 COMPANY CONTAINER OR TRAILER.—Notwithstanding any

22 other provision of this chapter to the contrary, a copy of

23 the certification required by section 5902(b) is not re24 quired to accompany the intermodal container or trailer.’’;

25 and
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1 (3) by striking ‘‘10,000 pounds (including pack2 ing materials and pallets)’’ in subsection (c)(1) and

3 inserting ‘‘29,000 pound’’.

4 SEC. 6. LIENS.

5 Section 5905 (relating to liens) is amended—

6 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the fol7 lowing:

8 (a) GENERAL.—If a person involved in the inter9 modal transportation of a loaded container or trailer for

10 which a certification is required by section 5902(b) of this

11 title is required, because of a violation of a State’s gross

12 vehicle weight laws or regulations, to post a bond or pay

13 a fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or interest result14 ing from—

15 ‘‘(1) erroneous information provided by the cer16 tifying party in the certification to the first carrier

17 in violation of section 5903(a) of this title;

18 ‘‘(2) the failure of the party required to provide

19 the certification to the first carrier to provide it;

20 ‘‘(3) the failure of a person required under sec21 tion 5902(c) to forward the certification to forward

22 it; or

23 ‘‘(4) an error occurring in the transfer of infor24 mation on the certification to another document

25 under section 5902(b)(3) or (c),
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1 then the person posting the bond, or paying the fine, pen2 alty, costs (including storage), or interest has a lien

3 against the contents equal to the amount of the bond, fine,

4 penalty, cost (including storage), or interest incurred,

5 until the person receives a payment of that amount from

6 the owner or beneficial owner of the contents, or from the

7 person responsible for making or forwarding the certifi8 cation, or transferring the information from the certifi9 cation to another document.’’;

10 (2) by inserting a comma and ‘‘or the owner or

11 beneficial owner of the contents,’’ after ‘‘first car12 rier’’ in subsection (b)(1); and

13 (3) by striking ‘‘cost, or interest.’’ in subsection

14 (b)(1) and inserting ‘‘cost (including storage), or in15 terest. The lien shall remain in effect until the lien

16 holder has received payment for all costs and ex17 penses described in subsection (a) of this section.’’.

18 SEC. 7. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

19 Section 5906 (relating to perishable agricultural com20 modities) is amended by striking ‘‘Sections 5904(a)(2)

21 and 5905 of this title do’’ and inserting ‘‘Section 5905

22 of this title does’’.

23 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS; EFFECTIVE DATE.

24 (a) REGULATIONS.—Section 5907(a) (relating to reg25 ulations) is amended by striking the first sentence and in-
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1 serting the following: ‘‘Not later than 30 days after the

2 date of enactment of the Intermodal Safe Container

3 Transportation Amendments Act of 1996, the Secretary

4 of Transportation shall initiate a proceeding to consider

5 adoption or modification of regulations under this chapter

6 to reflect the amendments made by that Act. The Sec7 retary shall prescribe final regulations, if such regulations

8 are needed, within 90 days after such date of enactment.’’.

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 5907(b) (relating to

10 effective date) is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This chapter is effective on

12 the date of enactment of the Intermodal Safe Container

13 Transportation Amendments Act of 1996. The Secretary

14 shall implement the provisions of this chapter 180 days

15 after such date of enactment.’’.

16 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 59 is amended by adding

18 at the end thereof the following:

19 ‘‘§ 5908. Relationship to other laws

20 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter affects—

21 ‘‘(1) chapter 51 (relating to transportation of

22 hazardous material) or the regulations promulgated

23 under that chapter; or
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1 ‘‘(2) any State highway weight or size law or

2 regulation applicable to tractor-trailer combina3 tions.’’.

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

5 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end thereof

6 the following:

‘‘5908. Relationship to other laws’’

Æ