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Dec 1, 2004 12:00 PM

The Intermodal Interchange Executive Committee (IIEC) has approved changes to the indemnity provisions of the Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement (UIIA). Consisting of motor carriers, steamship lines, and railroads, the IIEC is the industry group within the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) that administers the UIIA.

These revisions will allocate responsibility for latent equipment defects to equipment providers (railroad and ocean carriers and equipment leasing companies) and hold these providers accountable for their negligent acts. In turn, motor carriers will become responsible for performing a pre-trip inspection of specific equipment components before using the equipment. This exercise will be part of the federally mandated walkaround inspection drivers are required to make.

Credit for this achievement goes to members of a special IANA Indemnity Task Force that worked on this issue over the past year, and to the IIEC members for their diligence in establishing the specific UIIA application.

Rank-and-file participants in the UIIA will have an opportunity shortly to review the changes to the Agreement, and provide comments on the specific language. The new provisions are expected to become effective in January 2005.