The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended the Dec. 17 deadline for compliance on its "roadability" rule for intermodal container chassis to June 30, 2010
, according to the American Trucking Associations.

The extension applies to Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP), motor carrier and driver compliance with the Driver Vehicle Inspection Report recordkeeping requirements. It does not, however, apply to FMCSA inspection, repair and maintenance requirements.

In response to a petition for reconsideration of the final rule, the FMCSA has also amended the rule to allow for a fifth intermodal equipment marking option. The amendment advances the Global Intermodal Equipment Registry (GIER), an industry sponsored solution that was developed by the Intermodal Association of North America.

GIER, which is expected to save the industry about $60 million, went live earlier this month. The system utilizes the existing unique alpha-numeric control numbers that currently appear on intermodal equipment.

Intermodal equipment is registered in GIER using these existing control numbers as well as the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the vehicle registration. GIER provides a searchable database that links these commonly found equipment marks to the IEP responsible for the equipment. This includes identification of the newly required IEP DOT number.