I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4040

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to intermodal safe container

transportation.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 10, 1996

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PETRI, and Mr. RAHALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend 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 Act Amendments of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 49.

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 provi-
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1 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

2 section or other provision of title 49, United States Code.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 Section 5901 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 sections 10102 and 13102 of

9 this title 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 new paragraph:

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

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

17 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS.

18 Section 5902 is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘§ 5902. Notifications and certifications

20 ‘‘(a) PRIOR NOTIFICATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the first carrier to which

22 any loaded container or trailer having a projected

23 gross cargo weight of more than 29,000 pounds is

24 tendered for intermodal transportation is a motor

25 carrier, the person tendering the container or trailer
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1 shall give the motor carrier a notification of the pro2 jected gross cargo weight and a reasonable descrip3 tion of the contents of the container or trailer before

4 the tendering of the container or trailer. The notifi5 cation may be transmitted electronically or by tele6 phone.

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

8 to any person within the United States who tenders

9 a container or trailer subject to this chapter for

10 intermodal transportation if the first carrier is a

11 motor carrier.

12 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—

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

14 loaded container or trailer with an actual gross

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

16 carrier for intermodal transportation shall provide a

17 certification of the contents of the container or trail18 er in writing, or electronically, before or when the

19 container or trailer is so tendered.

20 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF CERTIFICATION.—The cer21 tification required by paragraph (1) shall include the

22 following:

23 ‘‘(A) The actual gross cargo weight.

24 ‘‘(B) A reasonable description of the con25 tents of the container or trailer.
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1 ‘‘(C) The identity of the certifying party.

2 ‘‘(D) The container or trailer number.

3 ‘‘(E) The date of certification or transfer

4 of data to another document, as provided for in

5 paragraph (3).

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

7 carrier who receives a certification may transfer the

8 information contained in the certification to another

9 document or to electronic format for forwarding to

10 a subsequent carrier. The person transferring the in11 formation shall state on the forwarded document the

12 date on which the data was transferred and the

13 identity of the party who performed the transfer.

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

15 this chapter, a shipping document, prepared by the

16 person tendering a container or trailer to a first car17 rier, that contains the information required by para18 graph (2) meets the requirements of paragraph (1).

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

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

21 used for the purpose of certification under this sub22 section after December 31, 2000, as a description

23 required under paragraph (2)(B) for a trailer or

24 container if the weight of any commodity in the

25 trailer or container equals or exceeds 20 percent of
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1 the total weight of the contents of the trailer or con2 tainer. This subsection does not prohibit the use of

3 such term after December 31, 2000, for rating pur4 poses.

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

6 separate document is used to meet the requirements

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

8 ‘INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION’.

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

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

11 a container or trailer subject to this chapter for

12 intermodal transportation within the United States.

13 ‘‘(c) FORWARDING CERTIFICATIONS TO SUBSEQUENT

14 CARRIERS.—

15 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—A carrier, agent of a

16 carrier, broker, customs broker, freight forwarder,

17 warehouser, or terminal operator shall forward the

18 certification provided under subsection (b) to a sub19 sequent carrier transporting the container or trailer

20 in intermodal transportation before or when the con21 tainer or trailer is tendered to the subsequent car22 rier.

23 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION OF NO CERTIFICATION RE24 QUIRED.—If no certification is received by the sub25 sequent carrier before or when the container or trail-
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1 er is being tendered to it, the subsequent carrier

2 may presume that no certification is required.

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON CONSTRUCTION OF FOR4 WARDING.—The act of forwarding the certification

5 may not be construed as a verification or affirmation

6 of the accuracy or completeness of the information

7 in the certification.

8 ‘‘(4) LIABILITY.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person inac10 curately transfers the information on the certifi11 cation or fails to forward the certification to a

12 subsequent carrier, then that person is liable to

13 any person who incurs any bond, fine, penalty,

14 cost (including storage), or interest charge in15 curred as a result of the inaccurate transfer of

16 information or failure to forward the certifi17 cation.

18 ‘‘(B) LIEN.—A subsequent carrier incur19 ring a bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including

20 storage), or interest charge as a result of the

21 inaccurate transfer of the information or the

22 failure to forward the certification shall have a

23 lien against the contents of the container or

24 trailer under section 5905 in the amount of the

25 bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including storage),
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1 or interest charge and all court costs and legal

2 fees incurred by the carrier as a result of such

3 inaccurate transfer or failure.

4 ‘‘(5) NOTICE TO LEASED OPERATORS.—If a

5 motor carrier knows that the gross cargo weight of

6 an intermodal container or trailer subject to the cer7 tification requirements of subsection (b) would result

8 in a violation of applicable State gross vehicle weight

9 laws—

10 ‘‘(A) a motor carrier must inform the oper11 ator of a vehicle which is leased by the vehicle

12 operator to a motor carrier which transports an

13 intermodal container or trailer of the gross

14 cargo weight of the container or trailer as cer15 tified to the motor carrier pursuant to sub16 section (b);

17 ‘‘(B) the notice must be provided to the

18 operator prior to the operator being tendered

19 the container or trailer;

20 ‘‘(C) the notice required by this subsection

21 must be in writing, but may be transmitted

22 electronically;

23 ‘‘(D) the motor carrier shall bear the bur24 den of proof to establish that it tendered the re25 quired notice to the operator; and
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1 ‘‘(E) if the operator of a leased vehicle

2 transporting a container or trailer subject to

3 this chapter should receive a fine because of a

4 violation of a State’s gross vehicle weight laws

5 or regulations and lessee motor carrier cannot

6 establish that it tendered to the operator the

7 notice required by this section, the operator

8 shall be entitled to reimbursement from the

9 motor carrier of the amount of any fine and

10 court costs resulting from the failure of the

11 motor carrier to tender the notice to the opera12 tor.

13 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY TO OWNER OR BENEFICIAL

14 OWNER.—If—

15 ‘‘(1) a person inaccurately transfers informa16 tion on a certification required by subsection (b)(1)

17 or fails to forward a certification to the subsequent

18 carrier;

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

20 such information or a failure to forward a certifi21 cation, the subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine,

22 penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest

23 charge; and

24 ‘‘(3) a subsequent carrier exercises its rights to

25 a lien under section 5905,
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1 then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner

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

3 the subsequent carrier for the amount of the lien and all

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

5 costs and legal fees incurred in connection with imposition

6 of the lien.

7 ‘‘(e) NONAPPLICABILITY.—

8 ‘‘(1) CONSOLIDATED SHIPMENTS.—The notifi9 cation and certification requirements of subsections

10 (a) and (b) do not apply to any intermodal container

11 or trailer containing consolidated shipments loaded

12 by a motor carrier if that motor carrier—

13 ‘‘(A) performs the highway portion of the

14 intermodal movement; or

15 ‘‘(B) assumes the responsibility for any

16 weight-related fine or penalty incurred by any

17 other motor carrier that performs a part of the

18 highway transportation.

19 ‘‘(2) INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION OF LOAD20 ED CONTAINERS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a) and

22 (b) and section 5903(c) do not apply to a car23 rier when the carrier is transferring a loaded

24 container or trailer to another carrier during

25 intermodal transportation, unless the carrier is
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1 also the person tendering the loaded container

2 or trailer to the first carrier.

3 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—A carrier, agent of

4 a carrier, broker, customs broker, freight for5 warder, warehouser, or terminal operator is

6 deemed not to be a person tendering a loaded

7 container or trailer to a first carrier under this

8 section, unless the carrier, agent, broker, cus9 toms broker, freight forwarder, warehouser, or

10 terminal operator assumes legal responsibility

11 for loading property into the container or trail12 er.’’.

13 SEC. 5. PROHIBITIONS.

14 (a) PROVIDING ERRONEOUS INFORMATION.—Section

15 5903(a) is amended by inserting ‘‘, to whom section

16 5902(b) applies,’’ after ‘‘A person’’.

17 (b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI18 CATION.—Section 5903(b) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI20 CATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION.—If no certification is re22 ceived by a motor carrier before or when a loaded

23 intermodal container or trailer is tendered to it, the

24 motor carrier may presume that the gross cargo
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1 weight of the container or trailer is less than 29,001

2 pounds.

3 ‘‘(2) COPY OF CERTIFICATION NOT REQUIRED

4 TO ACCOMPANY CONTAINER OR TRAILER.—Notwith5 standing any other provision of this chapter, if a cer6 tification is required by section 5902(b), a copy of

7 the certification is not required to accompany the

8 intermodal container or trailer.’’.

9 (c) UNLAWFUL COERCION.—Section 5903(c)(1) is

10 amended by striking ‘‘10,000 pounds (including packing

11 materials and pallets)’’ and inserting ‘‘29,000 pounds’’.

12 SEC. 6. LIENS.

13 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Section 5905(a) is amended to

14 read as follows:

15 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—If a person involved in the

16 intermodal transportation of a loaded container or trailer

17 for which a certification is required by section 5902(b) of

18 this title is required, because of a violation of a State’s

19 gross vehicle weight laws or regulations, to post a bond

20 or pay a fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or interest

21 charge resulting from—

22 ‘‘(1) erroneous information provided by the cer23 tifying party in the certification to the first carrier

24 in violation of section 5903(a),
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1 ‘‘(2) the failure of the party required to provide

2 the certification to the first carrier to provide it,

3 ‘‘(3) the failure of a person required under sec4 tion 5902(c) to forward the certification to forward

5 it, or

6 ‘‘(4) an error occurring in the transfer of infor7 mation on the certification to another document

8 under section 5902(b)(3) or 5902(c),

9 then the person posting the bond, or paying any fine, pen10 alty, cost (including storage), or interest charge has a lien

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

12 penalty, cost (including storage), or interest charge in13 curred, until the person receives a payment of that amount

14 from the owner or beneficial owner of the contents or from

15 the person responsible for making or forwarding the cer16 tification or transferring the information from the certifi17 cation to another document.’’.

18 (b) LIMITATIONS.—Section 5905(b)(1) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting after ‘‘the first carrier’’ the fol20 lowing: ‘‘or the owner or beneficial owner of the con21 tents’’; and

22 (2) by striking ‘‘cost, or interest.’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘cost (including storage), or interest charge. The

24 lien shall remain in effect until the lien holder has
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1 received payment for all costs and expenses as de2 scribed in subsection (a).’’.

3 SEC. 7. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

4 Section 5906 is amended by striking ‘‘Sections

5 5904(a)(2) and 5905 of this title do’’ and insert ‘‘Section

6 5905 does’’.

7 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 Section 5907 is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘§ 5907. Effective date

10 ‘‘This chapter, as amended by the Intermodal Safe

11 Container Transportation Act Amendments of 1996, is ef12 fective on the date of the enactment of such Act. The pro13 visions of this chapter shall be implemented 180 days after

14 such date of enactment.’’.

15 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

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

17 at the end the following new section:

18 ‘‘§ 5908. Relationship to other laws

19 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter affects—

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

21 hazardous material) or the regulations issued under

22 that chapter; or

23 ‘‘(2) any State highway weight or size law or

24 regulation applicable to tractor-trailer combina25 tions.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

2 such chapter is amended by striking the item relating to

3 section 5907 and inserting the following:

‘‘5907. Effective date.

‘‘5908. Relationship to other laws.’’.

Æ