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Last month, the Intermodal Interchange Executive Committee
(IIEC) approved changes to indemnity provisions of the Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement (UIIA). Comprising representatives from railroads, motor carriers and steamship companies, IIEC is an industry group within the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) that administers the agreement.

Scheduled to take effect in January, the revisions will allocate responsibility for equipment defects to equipment providers, such as railroads, ocean carriers and equipment leasing companies. Motor carriers will be responsible for performing a pre-trip inspection of specific components prior to using equipment. Truck drivers will be able to conduct the pre-trip as part of a federally mandated walk-around inspection.

Indemnification language has been a major stumbling block to developing a private sector solution to the roadability issue, IANA officials said in a prepared statement.

"I commend my industry partners for working together to solve this issue," said IANA Chairman Barry Michaels. "This was a private sector problem that needed industry resolution, not government intervention."

Representatives from the American Trucking Associations, Ocean Carriers Equipment Management Association and Association of American Railroads helped develop the UIIA revisions.