A bill in the Texas House that would have shifted the responsibility for container chassis from truck drivers to the ports in the state that supply the chassis has died.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, remained in the House Law Enforcement Committee at the deadline for House bills to advance to the Senate, effectively killing it for the year.

HB1989 would have required marine terminals in Texas that load and unload oceangoing vessels to check every intermodal chassis, the trailers that carry intermodal freight containers, before they leave a port.

Talton’s effort called for inspections that would check such items as brakes, suspension, tires and wheels, connecting devices, lights, and electrical system.

The measure would have allowed drivers to request that a chassis be reinspected by the Department of Transportation if they think it’s unsafe. Port employees, inspectors, owners or lessees of intermodal chassis would have been prohibited from threatening, coercing or otherwise retaliating against a driver of a chassis who requested reinspection or repair.

It also would have prohibited terminals from passing the buck for repairs on to drivers.

Any chassis provider found in violation would have been subject to a $500 fine per occurrence. If a provider were found to have at least two prior convictions for violations, the provider would have faced a $1,000 fine.

A similar effort in the state House failed to pass from committee during the 2003 session.