[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10546-H10548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTERMODAL SAFE CONTAINER TRANSPORTATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1996
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4040) to amend title 49, United States Code, relating to
intermodal safe container transportation.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4040
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Intermodal Safe Container
Transportation Act Amendments of 1996''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 49.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this
Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the
reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of title 49, United States Code.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
Section 5901 is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the
definitions in sections 10102 and 13102 of this title
apply.'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
(7) and (8), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new
paragraph:
``(6) `gross cargo weight' means the weight of the cargo,
packaging materials (including ice), pallets, and dunnage.''.
SEC. 4. NOTIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS.
Section 5902 is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 5902. Notifications and certifications
``(a) Prior Notification.--
``(1) In general.--If the first carrier to which any loaded
container or trailer having a projected gross cargo weight of
more than 29,000 pounds is tendered for intermodal
transportation is a motor carrier, the person tendering the
container or trailer shall give the motor carrier a
notification of the projected gross cargo weight and a
reasonable description of the contents of the container or
trailer before the tendering of the container or trailer. The
notification may be transmitted electronically or by
telephone.
``(2) Applicability.--This subsection applies to any person
within the United States who tenders a container or trailer
subject to this chapter for intermodal transportation if the
first carrier is a motor carrier.
``(b) Certification.--
``(1) In general.--A person who tenders a loaded container
or trailer with an actual gross cargo weight of more than
29,000 pounds, to a first carrier for intermodal
transportation shall provide a certification of the contents
of the container or trailer in writing, or electronically,
before or when the container or trailer is so tendered.
``(2) Contents of certification.--The certification
required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
``(A) The actual gross cargo weight.
``(B) A reasonable description of the contents of the
container or trailer.
``(C) The identity of the certifying party.
``(D) The container or trailer number.
``(E) The date of certification or transfer of data to
another document, as provided for in paragraph (3).
``(3) Transfer of certification data.--A carrier who
receives a certification may transfer the information
contained in the certification to another document or to
electronic format for forwarding to a subsequent carrier. The
person transferring the information shall state on the
forwarded document the date on which the data was transferred
and the identity of the party who performed the transfer.
``(4) Shipping documents.--For purposes of this chapter, a
shipping document, prepared by the person tendering a
container or trailer to a first carrier, that contains the
information required by paragraph (2) meets the requirements
of paragraph (1).
``(5) Use of `freight all kinds' term.--The term `Freight
All Kinds' or `FAK' may not be used for the purpose of
certification under this subsection after December 31, 2000,
as a description required under paragraph (2)(B) for a
trailer or container if the weight of any commodity in the
trailer or container equals or exceeds 20 percent of the
total weight of the contents of the trailer or container.
This subsection does not prohibit the use of such term
after December 31, 2000, for rating purposes.
``(6) Separate document marking.--If a separate document is
used to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), it shall be
conspicuously marked `INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION'.
``(7) Applicability.--This subsection applies to any
person, domestic or foreign, who first tenders a container or
trailer subject to this chapter for intermodal transportation
within the United States.
``(c) Forwarding Certifications to Subsequent Carriers.--
``(1) General rule.--A carrier, agent of a carrier, broker,
customs broker, freight forwarder, warehouser, or terminal
operator shall forward the certification provided under
subsection (b) to a subsequent carrier transporting the
container or trailer in intermodal transportation before or
when the container or trailer is tendered to the subsequent
carrier.
``(2) Presumption of no certification required.--If no
certification is received by the subsequent carrier before or
when the container or trailer is being tendered to it, the
subsequent carrier may presume that no certification is
required.
``(3) Limitation on construction of forwarding.--The act of
forwarding the certification may not be construed as a
verification or affirmation of the accuracy or completeness
of the information in the certification.
``(4) Liability.--
``(A) In general.--If a person inaccurately transfers the
information on the certification or fails to forward the
certification to a subsequent carrier, then that person is
liable to any person who incurs any bond, fine, penalty, cost
(including storage), or interest charge incurred as a result
of the inaccurate transfer of information or failure to
forward the certification.
``(B) Lien.--A subsequent carrier incurring a bond, fine,
penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest charge as a
result of the inaccurate transfer of the information or the
failure to forward the certification shall have a lien
against the contents of the container or trailer under
section 5905 in the amount of the bond, fine, penalty, or
cost (including storage), or interest charge and all court
costs and legal fees incurred by the carrier as a result of
such inaccurate transfer or failure.
``(5) Notice to leased operators.--If a motor carrier knows
that the gross cargo weight of an intermodal container or
trailer subject to the certification requirements of
subsection (b) would result in a violation of applicable
State gross vehicle weight laws--
``(A) a motor carrier must inform the operator of a vehicle
which is leased by the vehicle operator to a motor carrier
which transports an intermodal container or trailer of the
gross cargo weight of the container or trailer as certified
to the motor carrier pursuant to subsection (b);
``(B) the notice must be provided to the operator prior to
the operator being tendered the container or trailer;
``(C) the notice required by this subsection must be in
writing, but may be transmitted electronically;
``(D) the motor carrier shall bear the burden of proof to
establish that it tendered the required notice to the
operator; and
``(E) if the operator of a leased vehicle transporting a
container or trailer subject to this chapter should receive a
fine because of a violation of a State's gross vehicle weight
laws or regulations and lessee motor carrier cannot establish
that it tendered to the operator the notice required by this
section, the
[[Page H10547]]
operator shall be entitled to reimbursement from the motor
carrier of the amount of any fine and court costs resulting
from the failure of the motor carrier to tender the notice to
the operator.
``(d) Liability to Owner or Beneficial Owner.--If--
``(1) a person inaccurately transfers information on a
certification required by subsection (b)(1) or fails to
forward a certification to the subsequent carrier;
``(2) as a result of the inaccurate transfer of such
information or a failure to forward a certification, the
subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine, penalty, or cost
(including storage), or interest charge; and
``(3) a subsequent carrier exercises its rights to a lien
under section 5905,
then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner
or to any other person paying the amount of the lien to the
subsequent carrier for the amount of the lien and all costs
related to the imposition of the lien, including court costs
and legal fees incurred in connection with imposition of the
lien.
``(e) Nonapplicability.--
``(1) Consolidated shipments.--The notification and
certification requirements of subsections (a) and (b) do not
apply to any intermodal container or trailer containing
consolidated shipments loaded by a motor carrier if that
motor carrier--
``(A) performs the highway portion of the intermodal
movement; or
``(B) assumes the responsibility for any weight-related
fine or penalty incurred by any other motor carrier that
performs a part of the highway transportation.
``(2) Intermodal transportation of loaded containers.--
``(A) In general.--Subsections (a) and (b) and section
5903(c) do not apply to a carrier when the carrier is
transferring a loaded container or trailer to another carrier
during intermodal transportation, unless the carrier is also
the person tendering the loaded container or trailer to the
first carrier.
``(B) Special rule.--A carrier, agent of a carrier, broker,
customs broker, freight forwarder, warehouser, or terminal
operator is deemed not to be a person tendering a loaded
container or trailer to a first carrier under this section,
unless the carrier, agent, broker, customs broker, freight
forwarder, warehouser, or terminal operator assumes legal
responsibility for loading property into the container or
trailer.''.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITIONS.
(a) Providing Erroneous Information.--Section 5903(a) is
amended by inserting ``, to whom section 5902(b) applies,''
after ``A person''.
(b) Transporting Prior To Receiving Certification.--Section
5903(b) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Transporting Prior To Receiving Certification.--
``(1) Presumption.--If no certification is received by a
motor carrier before or when a loaded intermodal container or
trailer is tendered to it, the motor carrier may presume that
the gross cargo weight of the container or trailer is less
than 29,001 pounds.
``(2) Copy of certification not required to accompany
container or trailer.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this chapter, if a certification is required by section
5902(b), a copy of the certification is not required to
accompany the intermodal container or trailer.''.
(c) Unlawful Coercion.--Section 5903(c)(1) is amended by
striking ``10,000 pounds (including packing materials and
pallets)'' and inserting ``29,000 pounds''.
SEC. 6. LIENS.
(a) General Rule.--Section 5905(a) is amended to read as
follows:
``(a) General Rule.--If a person involved in the intermodal
transportation of a loaded container or trailer for which a
certification is required by section 5902(b) of this title is
required, because of a violation of a State's gross vehicle
weight laws or regulations, to post a bond or pay a fine,
penalty, cost (including storage), or interest charge
resulting from--
``(1) erroneous information provided by the certifying
party in the certification to the first carrier in violation
of section 5903(a),
``(2) the failure of the party required to provide the
certification to the first carrier to provide it,
``(3) the failure of a person required under section
5902(c) to forward the certification to forward it, or
``(4) an error occurring in the transfer of information on
the certification to another document under section
5902(b)(3) or 5902(c),
then the person posting the bond, or paying any fine,
penalty, cost (including storage), or interest charge has a
lien against the contents equal to the amount of the bond,
fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or interest charge
incurred, until the person receives a payment of that amount
from the owner or beneficial owner of the contents or from
the person responsible for making or forwarding the
certification or transferring the information from the
certification to another document.''.
(b) Limitations.--Section 5905(b)(1) is amended--
(1) by inserting after ``the first carrier'' the following:
``or the owner or beneficial owner of the contents''; and
(2) by striking ``cost, or interest.'' and inserting ``cost
(including storage), or interest charge. The lien shall
remain in effect until the lien holder has received payment
for all costs and expenses as described in subsection (a).''.
SEC. 7. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
Section 5906 is amended by striking ``Sections 5904(a)(2)
and 5905 of this title do'' and insert ``Section 5905 does''.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Section 5907 is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 5907. Effective date
``This chapter, as amended by the Intermodal Safe Container
Transportation Act Amendments of 1996, is effective on the
date of the enactment of such Act. The provisions of this
chapter shall be implemented 180 days after such date of
enactment.''.
SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 59 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``Sec. 5908. Relationship to other laws
``Nothing in this chapter affects--
``(1) chapter 51 (relating to transportation of hazardous
material) or the regulations issued under that chapter; or
``(2) any State highway weight or size law or regulation
applicable to tractor-trailer combinations.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for such chapter is
amended by striking the item relating to section 5907 and
inserting the following:
``5907. Effective date.
``5908. Relationship to other laws.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] and the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr.
Rahall] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster].
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill makes several critical changes to the 1992
Intermodal Safe Container Act to permit the act to be effectively
implemented by ocean shipping lines, railroads, and trucking companies.
This legislation will ensure that the intermodal container
transportation does not cause violations of our highways' weight laws
and, also, that commerce is not unduly burdened. It is critical that
this bill pass swiftly, because the regulations implementing the 1992
bill will go into effect January 1.
This legislation is completely bipartisan. It is strongly supported
by a comprehensive intermodal coalition of ocean shipping lines,
railroads, trucking companies and shippers, as well as the Department
of Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr.
Petri], the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Molinari], and the gentleman
from North Carolina [Mr. Coble] for their cooperation in swiftly
drafting this intermodal bill.
I also want to thank my Democratic colleagues, the gentleman from
Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar], the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr.
Rahall], the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Wise], and the gentleman
from Tennessee [Mr. Clement] for their cooperation and support in
agreeing to quickly move this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge that my colleagues support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster],
the full committee chairman, and the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr.
Oberstar], the ranking minority member, for the very effective and
capable manner in which they have worked toegether with me and the
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Petri], the chairman of the subcommittee,
in bringing forward this legislation. There has been a good give-and-
take on both sides of the aisle.
I also commend the staff that have worked so very long and hard on
bringing this bill to us today.
Mr. Speaker, as the full committee chairman has stated, while this
bill basically consists of technical amendments, its enactment will
fulfill congressional and DOT intent in addressing the issue of
liability as it relates to intermodal shipments of potentially
overweight freight containers.
Basically, we have a situation where a trucker picks up a container
of, say, shoes at the Port of Long Beach that was packed in Taiwan and
is headed for a J.C. Penny Store. On its way along our Nation's
highways to the store, the trucker is found to be overweight.
Under current law, the trucker pays the fine even though the trucking
company had no involvement in the packing of the container and was led
to believe it would not cause the truck to be overweight.
[[Page H10548]]
In 1992 we passed legislation to address this situation.
However, due to shortcomings in this law, DOT has yet to make
effective a final rule implementing it. Hence, the need for this
legislation.
The pending bill would facilitate the implementation of the 1992 act
by, first allowing the shipper certification of the weight of
intermodal containers to be incorporated into shipping papers or
transmitted in electronic form.
If the certification is not made, or is incorrect, the shipper is
liable for any violations which may occur of our highway weight laws.
And second, this bill sets the weight threshold for container
certification at 29,001 pounds. It is my understanding from both DOT
and industry that this is a more appropriate threshold than what is in
current law.
With that stated, I urge the adoption of the pending measure.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar].
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania
[Mr. Shuster], our full committee chairman, and the gentleman from
Wisconsin [Mr. Petri], chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface
Transportation, for the work that they have done to bring this
legislation to this point.
Mr. Speaker, I also commend the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr.
Rahall], on our side, who has devoted a great deal of time and energy
to resolving a very puzzling and complex problem; one that on the
surface would seem to be amenable to ready resolution.
In 1992, when we passed the Intermodal Safe Container Transportation
Act, we thought that the legislation had corrected the problems. A
broad consensus of transportation interests got together to support
this legislation to encourage compliance with U.S. highway weight
limits by ensuring that the party that first tendered cargo for
intermodal shipment would be responsible for verifying the weight of
that intermodal container and for providing appropriate documentation.
Unfortunately, DOT could not write regulations to make the law work.
Try as they might, there was a combination of problems, conflicting
interests, difficulty in writing appropriate language, to prevent the
issuance of those regulations. So when I say it took a great deal of
effort on the part of the leadership of the subcommittee to work this
out, it certainly did. It was a matter that the Department itself, with
all of their staffing, could not resolve.
So the parties went back to the drawing board, they reached agreement
on a measure that the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Rahall] has, I
think, quite adequately described.
In 1989, the Federal Highway Administration estimated that some 1
million containers moving through U.S. ports over a 1-year period would
likely cause highway weight violations based on most commonly used
truck configurations. Some 40 percent of the 20-foot containers would
potentially cause overweight trucks; 17 percent of 40-foot containers
were more than 10,000 pounds over the cargo weight.
Truckers should not have to bear that responsibility. Goods should
not have to be impeded in their movement to marketplace, and bridges
should not have to be encumbered and highways should not have to accept
that additional pounding due to our ocean shipping interests.
So the legislation we have today will provide workable tools to allow
carriers to comply with highway weight limitations and improve
enforcement by ensuring that the one responsible, the party that loads
the container, is the one liable if a subsequent violation occurs.
Mr. Speaker, that is what we bring to the House today. I want to
thank the gentleman from West Virginia for the splendid effort that he
has invested in bringing this issue to resolution, and again to our
full committee chairmen for resolving the matter.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4040, the
Intermodal Safe Container Act Amendments of 1996.
I want to thank my colleagues Bud Shuster, Susan Molinari, and Howard
Coble, and my Democratic colleagues James Oberstar, Nick Rahall, Bob
Wise, and Bob Clement, for their cooperation in swiftly moving this
legislation.
This legislation corrects several problems in the 1992 Intermodal
Safe Container Act which sets standards for the intermodal transfer of
freight containers between ocean shipping lines, railroads, and motor
carriers so that no trucks hauling containers are overweight. The 1992
act has been delayed by DOT only until January 1, 1997.
A coalition of ocean carriers, railroads, motor carriers, and freight
shippers recommended changes to the 1992 act, since these problems
could not be corrected by DOT. DOT supports these changes. These
recommendations are the basis of this legislation.
This bill encourages compliance with highway weight rules. It clearly
establishes that shippers must provide a certification that identifies
the weight and contents of the container. If this certification is not
made or is incorrect, the shippers are automatically liable for any
resultant highway weight violations.
The Act speeds shipments by permitting all carriers to use electronic
certifications and reduces paperwork by permitting a bill of lading to
be used as the certification.
The weight threshold for a container certification has been set at
29,001 pounds. This reduces the burden of complying with the act, but
still ensures that all containers likely to cause overweight violations
will be identified.
Finally, it provides a phase-in for carriers to adapt to the new
requirements.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4040.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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