Louisiana Governor Signs Intermodal Roadability Law

Louisiana forbids the owner of a vehicle to offer a chassis or container in intermodal exchange that does not meet federal safety regulations, under a law signed July 16 by Gov. Mike Foster.

Truckers would have the right to inspect the equipment and demand that repairs be made if necessary.

The measure is similar to one enacted in South Carolina last year except for a provision dealing with existing interchange contracts (11-9, p. 24). The South Carolina law states that existing contracts supersede the law. The Louisiana measure apparently does the opposite, holding that the law supersedes existing contracts.

Two intermodal groups are at odds over the language of the new Louisiana statute, which is intended to improve the roadability of intermodal equipment interchanged with trucks.

Joni Casey, president of the Intermodal Association of North America, called this provision “problematic,” but said IANA wanted to complete its analysis of the law before taking any action.

ANA rejects regulation of intermodal equipment interchange and says legislation of the sort enacted in Louisiana is unnecessary.

“There are enough vehicles to address the problem of roadability in the private sector,” she said. “IANA doesn’t support government intervention in this process.”

However, the Intermodal Conference of American Trucking Associations contends that there have been plenty of opportunities to address roadability as a private-sector issue, but little has been done.

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