104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4040

AN ACT

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to

intermodal safe container transportation.
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4040

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 49.

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

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

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 Section 5901 is amended—

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

10 following:

11 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this chap12 ter, the definitions in sections 10102 and 13102 of

13 this title apply.’’;

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

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

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the follow17 ing new paragraph:

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

19 the cargo, packaging materials (including ice), pal20 lets, and dunnage.’’.

21 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS.

22 Section 5902 is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘§ 5902. Notifications and certifications

24 ‘‘(a) PRIOR NOTIFICATION.—

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

26 any loaded container or trailer having a projected
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1 gross cargo weight of more than 29,000 pounds is

2 tendered for intermodal transportation is a motor

3 carrier, the person tendering the container or trailer

4 shall give the motor carrier a notification of the pro5 jected gross cargo weight and a reasonable descrip6 tion of the contents of the container or trailer before

7 the tendering of the container or trailer. The notifi8 cation may be transmitted electronically or by tele9 phone.

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

11 to any person within the United States who tenders

12 a container or trailer subject to this chapter for

13 intermodal transportation if the first carrier is a

14 motor carrier.

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 the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(A) The actual gross cargo weight.

2 ‘‘(B) A reasonable description of the con3 tents of the container or trailer.

4 ‘‘(C) The identity of the certifying party.

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

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

7 of data to another document, as provided for in

8 paragraph (3).

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

10 carrier who receives a certification may transfer the

11 information contained in the certification to another

12 document or to electronic format for forwarding to

13 a subsequent carrier. The person transferring the in14 formation shall state on the forwarded document the

15 date on which the data was transferred and the

16 identity of the party who performed the transfer.

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

18 this chapter, a shipping document, prepared by the

19 person tendering a container or trailer to a first car20 rier, that contains the information required by para21 graph (2) meets the requirements of paragraph (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 this sub25 section after December 31, 2000, as a description
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1 required under paragraph (2)(B) for a trailer or

2 container if the weight of any commodity in the

3 trailer or container equals or exceeds 20 percent of

4 the total weight of the contents of the trailer or con5 tainer. This subsection does not prohibit the use of

6 such term after December 31, 2000, for rating pur7 poses.

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

9 separate document is used to meet the requirements

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

11 ‘INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION’.

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

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

14 a container or trailer subject to this chapter for

15 intermodal transportation within the United States.

16 ‘‘(c) FORWARDING CERTIFICATIONS TO SUBSEQUENT

17 CARRIERS.—

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

19 carrier, broker, customs broker, freight forwarder,

20 warehouser, or terminal operator shall forward the

21 certification provided under subsection (b) to a sub22 sequent carrier transporting the container or trailer

23 in intermodal transportation before or when the con24 tainer or trailer is tendered to the subsequent car25 rier.
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1 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION OF NO CERTIFICATION RE2 QUIRED.—If no certification is received by the sub3 sequent carrier before or when the container or trail4 er is being tendered to it, the subsequent carrier

5 may presume that no certification is required.

6 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON CONSTRUCTION OF FOR7 WARDING.—The act of forwarding the certification

8 may not be construed as a verification or affirmation

9 of the accuracy or completeness of the information

10 in the certification.

11 ‘‘(4) LIABILITY.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person inac13 curately transfers the information on the certifi14 cation or fails to forward the certification to a

15 subsequent carrier, then that person is liable to

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

17 cost (including storage), or interest charge in18 curred as a result of the inaccurate transfer of

19 information or failure to forward the certifi20 cation.

21 ‘‘(B) LIEN.—A subsequent carrier incur22 ring a bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including

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

24 inaccurate transfer of the information or the

25 failure to forward the certification shall have a
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1 lien against the contents of the container or

2 trailer under section 5905 in the amount of the

3 bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including storage),

4 or interest charge and all court costs and legal

5 fees incurred by the carrier as a result of such

6 inaccurate transfer or failure.

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

8 motor carrier knows that the gross cargo weight of

9 an intermodal container or trailer subject to the cer10 tification requirements of subsection (b) would result

11 in a violation of applicable State gross vehicle weight

12 laws—

13 ‘‘(A) a motor carrier must inform the oper14 ator of a vehicle which is leased by the vehicle

15 operator to a motor carrier which transports an

16 intermodal container or trailer of the gross

17 cargo weight of the container or trailer as cer18 tified to the motor carrier pursuant to sub19 section (b);

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

21 operator prior to the operator being tendered

22 the container or trailer;

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

24 must be in writing, but may be transmitted

25 electronically;
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1 ‘‘(D) the motor carrier shall bear the bur2 den of proof to establish that it tendered the re3 quired notice to the operator; and

4 ‘‘(E) if the operator of a leased vehicle

5 transporting a container or trailer subject to

6 this chapter should receive a fine because of a

7 violation of a State’s gross vehicle weight laws

8 or regulations and lessee motor carrier cannot

9 establish that it tendered to the operator the

10 notice required by this section, the operator

11 shall be entitled to reimbursement from the

12 motor carrier of the amount of any fine and

13 court costs resulting from the failure of the

14 motor carrier to tender the notice to the opera15 tor.

16 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY TO OWNER OR BENEFICIAL

17 OWNER.—If—

18 ‘‘(1) a person inaccurately transfers informa19 tion on a certification required by subsection (b)(1)

20 or fails to forward a certification to the subsequent

21 carrier;

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

23 such information or a failure to forward a certifi24 cation, the subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine,
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1 penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest

2 charge; and

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

4 a lien under section 5905,

5 then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner

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

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

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

9 costs and legal fees incurred in connection with imposition

10 of the lien.

11 ‘‘(e) NONAPPLICABILITY.—

12 ‘‘(1) CONSOLIDATED SHIPMENTS.—The notifi13 cation and certification requirements of subsections

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

15 or trailer containing consolidated shipments loaded

16 by a motor carrier if that motor carrier—

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

18 intermodal movement; or

19 ‘‘(B) assumes the responsibility for any

20 weight-related fine or penalty incurred by any

21 other motor carrier that performs a part of the

22 highway transportation.

23 ‘‘(2) INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION OF LOAD24 ED CONTAINERS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a) and

2 (b) and section 5903(c) do not apply to a car3 rier when the carrier is transferring a loaded

4 container or trailer to another carrier during

5 intermodal transportation, unless the carrier is

6 also the person tendering the loaded container

7 or trailer to the first carrier.

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

9 a carrier, broker, customs broker, freight for10 warder, warehouser, or terminal operator is

11 deemed not to be a person tendering a loaded

12 container or trailer to a first carrier under this

13 section, unless the carrier, agent, broker, cus14 toms broker, freight forwarder, warehouser, or

15 terminal operator assumes legal responsibility

16 for loading property into the container or trail17 er.’’.

18 SEC. 5. PROHIBITIONS.

19 (a) PROVIDING ERRONEOUS INFORMATION.—Section

20 5903(a) is amended by inserting ‘‘, to whom section

21 5902(b) applies,’’ after ‘‘A person’’.

22 (b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI23 CATION.—Section 5903(b) is amended to read as follows:

24 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI25 CATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION.—If no certification is re2 ceived by a motor carrier before or when a loaded

3 intermodal container or trailer is tendered to it, the

4 motor carrier may presume that the gross cargo

5 weight of the container or trailer is less than 29,001

6 pounds.

7 ‘‘(2) COPY OF CERTIFICATION NOT REQUIRED

8 TO ACCOMPANY CONTAINER OR TRAILER.—Notwith9 standing any other provision of this chapter, if a cer10 tification is required by section 5902(b), a copy of

11 the certification is not required to accompany the

12 intermodal container or trailer.’’.

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

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

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

16 SEC. 6. LIENS.

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

18 read as follows:

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

20 intermodal transportation of a loaded container or trailer

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

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

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

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

25 charge resulting from—
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1 ‘‘(1) erroneous information provided by the cer2 tifying party in the certification to the first carrier

3 in violation of section 5903(a),

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

5 the certification to the first carrier to provide it,

6 ‘‘(3) the failure of a person required under sec7 tion 5902(c) to forward the certification to forward

8 it, or

9 ‘‘(4) an error occurring in the transfer of infor10 mation on the certification to another document

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

12 then the person posting the bond, or paying any fine, pen13 alty, cost (including storage), or interest charge has a lien

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

15 penalty, cost (including storage), or interest charge in16 curred, until the person receives a payment of that amount

17 from the owner or beneficial owner of the contents or from

18 the person responsible for making or forwarding the cer19 tification or transferring the information from the certifi20 cation to another document.’’.

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

22 (1) by inserting after ‘‘the first carrier’’ the fol23 lowing: ‘‘or the owner or beneficial owner of the con24 tents’’; and
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘cost, or interest.’’ and inserting

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

3 lien shall remain in effect until the lien holder has

4 received payment for all costs and expenses as de5 scribed in subsection (a).’’.

6 SEC. 7. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

7 Section 5906 is amended by striking ‘‘Sections

8 5904(a)(2) and 5905 of this title do’’ and insert ‘‘Section

9 5905 does’’.

10 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 Section 5907 is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘§ 5907. Effective date

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

14 Container Transportation Act Amendments of 1996, is ef15 fective on the date of the enactment of such Act. The pro16 visions of this chapter shall be implemented 180 days after

17 such date of enactment.’’.

18 SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

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

20 at the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘§ 5908. Relationship to other laws

22 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter affects—

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

24 hazardous material) or the regulations issued under

25 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) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

5 such chapter is amended by striking the item relating to

6 section 5907 and inserting the following:

‘‘5907. Effective date.

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

Passed the House of Representatives September 18,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.