The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) late Thursday applauded the U.S. House introduction of H.R. 2863, the Intermodal Equipment Safety and Responsibility Act of 2003.

Sponsored by Reps. Henry Brown (R-South Carolina) and Richard Baker (R-Louisiana), the "roadability" measure aims to improve the safety of chassis and trailers interchanged with truckers at ports and rail terminals. The measure would ensure the parties that provide the equipment to truckers are responsible for maintaining it in compliance with current federal safety requirements.
Passage of the bill would "close a decades-old safety loophole by requiring providers of more than 800,000 intermodal chassis and trailers to be accountable for inspecting, repairing and maintaining the equipment they control," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. "Today, truckers are held singularly accountable for the operating condition of intermodal equipment they neither own nor control."
Graves termed it "long overdue" and explained that under the legislation, defects in brakes and other safety components on trailing equipment would have to be corrected through systematic maintenance by qualified mechanics at shipyards and railroad depots before the trailer is released to motor carriers for transport on the nation’s highways.
ATA has worked closely with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), and the International Longshoremen's Assn. (ILA) to develop a legislative proposal to increase the safety of intermodal equipment used on our nation's highways.
Graves said intermodal operators who provide chassis and trailers to truckers would become "even more reliable partners" in the freight transportation industry by taking safety responsibility for the equipment they own, lease and control. Graves praised the sponsors for their action in introducing a bill of high interest to public safety saying roadability was "an issue of importance to all who care about highway safety."