10/6/03-A bill prohibiting slow port operations at Texas ports failed to make it out of the Legislature.
HB3447, sponsored by Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, called for prohibiting ports from making a truck tractor wait longer than 30 minutes before beginning loading or off-loading container cargo at a marine terminal. Under the bill, a terminal operator would be subject to a $250 fine if it made a truck wait longer than 30 minutes, and each delayed truck would be a separate violation.
Terminals attempting to avoid requirements in the bill by diverting a truck to area roadways, alternate staging areas or forcing the truck to wait inside the gate would have been subject to a $750 fine.
The bill would have exempted terminals that maintain a fully staffed gate two hours before and after peak morning and afternoon commuter times.
It was in the House Committee on Environmental Regulation when lawmakers adjourned in June.