Coalition pushes for action on intermodal chassis safety

A coalition is challenging Congress to pass the "Intermodal Equipment Safety and Responsibility Act" of 2003, HR 2863. International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, International Longshoremen's Association Vice President John Baker and a spokesman for Detroit-area U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Jr. are directing attention to the difficulty of conducting safe chassis inspections. "This is a simple matter of highway safety. We've passed laws requiring the use of seat belts while driving. We've passed laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets and laws requiring a hands-free device when motorists use cell phones while driving," said Ray Plowden, the district staff director for Congressman Conyers, who became the 42nd co-sponsor of HR 2863 on Friday. "Passing this federal chassis safety inspection legislation will be a top priority when Congress goes back into session next January."The coalition says the current practice at container yards is to forgo preventative maintenance and wait until the brakes or wheel bearings fail. It believes this policy has led to a rash of deadly but preventable accidents in which innocent motorists became victims.Teamsters General President Hoffa cited the recent $23.5 million dollar jury award to the family of a New Jersey physician killed in a crash caused by failure of the brakes on an intermodal truck chassis. Also in the last two months, eight people were killed in Chicago, six near Long Beach, California, and one in Texas -- all because of equipment failure. "When we can avoid these kinds of tragedies it can no longer be called an accident," said Hoffa.HR 2863, the bill currently before Congress, will require that all intermodal chassis sent out onto the highways have a record of inspections and repairs, including the repair history. Any chassis needing repair will be red-tagged and quarantined. It would become a violation of federal law to assign any unsafe chassis to a port driver if this proposed legislation passes.