BILL REQ. #:  H-0364.1 

Read first time 02/04/2003.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to the intermodal container safety program; adding a new chapter to Title 81 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds and declares the following:
     (1) Under chapter 46.44 RCW, vehicles must meet certain gross vehicle weight restrictions to travel on state roadways. In addition, most states regulate the allowable gross weight on a single axle or set of axles. In this state, the maximum allowable gross weight on a single axle is 20,000 pounds and on a set of tandem axles is 40,000 pounds. Often, however, these axle weight limits are violated because containers are loaded with cargo well beyond any vehicle's axle or overall weight-bearing capacity.
     (2) Transporting overweight containers on public roadways presents significant dangers to the driver and the public. Due to the weight, balance, and force of the load, a driver transporting an overweight or improperly loaded container requires increased braking distance to reach a complete stop. Moreover, a higher center of gravity coupled with an overweight or unbalanced load increases the risk of chassis separation and flipped rigs when a driver makes a turn.
     (3) The Washington state patrol should pursue more strict enforcement of existing state and federal laws regarding improperly packed and unsafely loaded intermodal containers, and maximum vehicle weight restrictions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) An ocean marine terminal that receives and dispatches intermodal containers shall implement and carry out the intermodal container safety program, as described in this chapter.
     (2) No ocean marine terminal operator may tender to, or interchange with, a motor carrier, an intermodal container that when loaded upon a vehicle or chassis causes the motor carrier's vehicle or chassis to exceed this state's axle weight restrictions or the federal gross vehicle weight restrictions. An ocean marine terminal operator tendering to a motor carrier such a container will be fined five hundred dollars per occurrence.
     (3) No ocean marine terminal operator may tender to, or interchange with, a motor carrier, an intermodal container that, upon inspection, is determined to be improperly packed or unsafely loaded. An ocean marine terminal operator tendering to a motor carrier such a container will be fined five hundred dollars per occurrence.
     (4) Nothing in this chapter is meant to supersede the federal weight restrictions provided in 49 C.F.R. Sec. 5903. Rather, this chapter imposes compliance with both this state's axle weight restrictions and the federal gross vehicle weight restrictions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Ocean marine terminal operators shall weigh and inspect all containers upon the container's arrival at the terminal. Containers that weigh less than or equal to an amount that when loaded upon a chassis or vehicle, does not cause the chassis or vehicle to exceed this state's axle weight restrictions, and are determined upon inspection to be safely loaded and properly packed, will be green-tagged and placed in an area designated for interchange to a motor carrier. The tag will contain:
     (a) The name of the person who weighed and inspected the container;
     (b) The date and time that the container was weighed and inspected;
     (c) The weight of the container and determination of inspection; and
     (d) Since a chassis or vehicle's weight-bearing capacity varies depending upon the number of axles that a chassis or vehicle has, each green tag must designate the appropriate chassis or vehicle with the necessary number of axles, that may transport that container.
     (2) The tag must be provided by the ocean marine terminal operator and must meet specifications determined by the state patrol.
     (3) If, however, a container weighs more than an amount that when loaded upon a chassis or vehicle shall cause the chassis or vehicle to exceed this state's axle weight restrictions, or is determined upon inspection to be improperly packed or unsafely loaded, it must be red-tagged and transported to a facility located at the ocean marine terminal to be unloaded and repacked until the container can be safely operated on the public highways and falls within a weight that when loaded upon a chassis or vehicle, the chassis or vehicle's weight is within this state's axle weight restrictions. Alternatively, the ocean marine terminal operator shall return the overweight container to its original sender.
     (a) The ocean marine terminal shall bear the costs of transporting the container to the facility, and unloading and repacking the container.
     (b) To ensure both compliance and reimbursement, a container may be embargoed until payment is received.
     (4) Once a container has been unloaded and repacked, it will be green-tagged and transported to an area designated for interchange to a motor carrier.
     (5) If an overweight, improperly packed, or unsafely loaded container, regardless of whether it has been green- or red-tagged is interchanged to a motor carrier, and the motor carrier has not yet left the terminal:
     (a) The driver may request that the container be reweighed or repacked by the entity responsible for weighing and inspecting the container under this chapter;
     (b) The driver must be compensated by the ocean marine terminal at one hundred dollars per hour for time spent transporting the container to the unloading or repacking facility, and for locating a container that when loaded upon the chassis or vehicle does not cause the chassis or vehicle to exceed this state's axle weight restrictions or highway safety rules; and
     (c) Any such request, any corrective action taken, and the reason why corrective action was not taken must be recorded in the intermodal container maintenance file under section 4 of this act. Alternatively, the driver may contact a law enforcement agency with regard to the weight of the container.
     (6) No driver may be threatened, coerced, or otherwise retaliated against by an ocean marine terminal operator for requesting that a container be reweighed or repacked or for contacting a law enforcement agency with regard to the weight or safety of an intermodal container. If a driver is so threatened, the driver must be protected by and afforded all rights and remedies provided in the state whistleblower statute, chapter 42.40 RCW. Accordingly, any person who violates this section is subject to the penalties provided in chapter 42.40 RCW.
     (7) If an overweight, improperly packed, or unsafely loaded container is interchanged to a motor carrier, and the motor carrier has left the terminal, the ocean marine terminal operator is responsible for any time during which the motor carrier is detained by state officials for violations of this chapter. The ocean marine terminal shall pay the driver at the rate specified in the contract plus one hundred dollars per hour for all time spent related to the infraction.
     (8) A citation, summons, or complaint issued as a result of a violation of a state axle weight violation must be issued to the ocean marine terminal operator responsible for weighing and inspecting the container.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) Records regarding the weight and inspection of each container entering an ocean marine terminal must be:
     (a) Maintained for ninety days at the ocean marine terminal where each container is weighed and inspected;
     (b) Made available upon request by any authorized employee of the utilities and transportation commission or the state patrol; and
     (c) Made available during normal business hours to any motor carrier or driver or the authorized representative thereof who has been engaged to transport a container from the ocean marine terminal.
     (2) Records must be kept for any container that must be unloaded and repacked under the requirements of section 3 of this act. The records must be:
     (a) Maintained for two years at the ocean marine terminal;
     (b) Made available upon request by any authorized employee of the utilities and transportation commission or the state patrol; and
     (c) Made available during normal business hours to any motor carrier or driver or the authorized representative thereof who has been engaged to transport a container from the ocean marine terminal.
     (3) Requests made under section 3(5)(a) of this act that a container be reweighed or repacked must be recorded in the intermodal container safety file and maintained and made available under subsection (1)(a) through (c) of this section.
     (4) All records described in this section may be kept in a computer system if printouts of those records are provided upon request.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) The commercial vehicle division of the state patrol shall conduct random, but at least annual, on-site reviews of ocean marine terminals to determine whether the terminal is complying with the requirements of this chapter, including but not limited to weighing and inspecting intermodal containers; their tagging, quarantine, and repacking; and recordkeeping requirements. After an inspection in which the commercial vehicle division determines that an ocean marine terminal operator has failed to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter, the chief of the state patrol shall:
     (a) Require the ocean marine terminal to comply immediately with this chapter;
     (b) Fine the ocean marine terminal operator one hundred dollars for every day, after the day of inspection, that the terminal fails to comply with this chapter; and
     (c) After ten days of noncompliance, immediately forward a recommendation to the utilities and transportation commission to suspend the terminal's motor carrier property permit, and forward a recommendation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for administrative or other action deemed necessary against the ocean marine terminal's interstate operating authority.
     (2) After twenty days of noncompliance, the utilities and transportation commission shall revoke the ocean marine terminal's property permit.
     (3) If an inspection results in an unsatisfactory rating due to conditions presenting an imminent danger to the public safety, the utilities and transportation commission shall take actions under subsections (1)(c) and (2) of this section.
     (4) In addition, any state patrol officer, while in the performance of the duties of office, may enter at any time an ocean marine terminal to weigh and inspect any intermodal containers that have been green-tagged. If any green-tagged container that when loaded upon a vehicle or chassis with the appropriate number of axles as specified on the green tag causes the motor carrier's vehicle or chassis to exceed this state's axle weight restrictions or the federal gross vehicle weight restrictions, or is determined to be improperly packed or unsafely loaded, the ocean marine terminal operator is subject to a fine of one thousand dollars per overweight or unsafe container as well as any of the penalties set forth in this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   The utilities and transportation commission and the state patrol shall adopt rules necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Nothing in this chapter relieves a commercial driver or commercial motor carrier of any duty imposed by state or federal law related to the safe operation of a commercial motor vehicle.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 81 RCW.