(A) For purposes of enforcing this section, "vehicle" means intermodal trailer, chassis, or container.

(B) A tender shall not tender or interchange a vehicle for use on any highway which is in violation of the requirements contained in the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). A motor carrier shall not certify or guarantee to a person tendering or interchanging a vehicle to a motor carrier that the vehicle complies with the FMCSR unless the tenderer of the vehicle provides the motor carrier operator with certification that the vehicle meets FMCSR requirements. Before an operator may accept a vehicle, the tenderer must allow the motor carrier operator adequate equipment, time, and facilities to conduct a walk-around pre-trip inspection of the vehicle. If the vehicle fails to meet federal safety requirements, the tenderer immediately must make any necessary repairs to the vehicle so that it complies with applicable safety standards or immediately make available a replacement vehicle which meets the safety requirements.

(C) The Department of Public Safety State Transport Police, if requested by the State Ports Authority, may as a public safety service, enter upon, and perform courtesy inspections of vehicles for purposes of identifying and tagging vehicles which may require mechanical work before being tendered for use on public highways.

(D) If a vehicle that is tendered is placed out of service as a result of a roadside inspection within five complete working days from the time the motor carrier is tendered, the vehicle as indicated on the equipment interchange agreement, then the operator must be reimbursed for all fines and penalties incurred pursuant to the out-of-service order, including reimbursement for all equipment repair expenses necessary to bring the vehicle into compliance with FMCSR, unless the fines, penalties, or repair expenses are due to actions or omissions of the motor carrier operator after the vehicle was tendered. Reimbursement must be made to the operator no later than thirty days after the date of conviction and must include payment for the following equipment repairs:

(1) Brake Adjustments:

push rod travel exceeds limits.

(2) Brake Drum:

(a) drum cracks;

(b) lining thickness loose or missing;

(c) lining saturated with oil.

(3) Inoperative Brakes:

(a) no movement of any components;

(b) missing or broken (loose) components;

(c) mismatch components.

(4) Air Lines and Tubing:

(a) bulge and swelling;

(b) audible leak other than proper connection;

(c) air lines broken, cracked, or crimped.

(5) Reservoir Tank:

any separation of original attachment points.

(6) Frames:

(a) any cracked, loose, sagging, or broken frame members which measured one and one-half inch in web or one inch or longer in bottom flange or any crack extending from web radius into bottom flange;

(b) any condition which causes moving parts to come in contact with the frame.

(7) Electrical.

(8) Wheel Assembly:

(a) low or no oil;

(b) oil leakage on brake components.

(9) Tire Separation:

(a) tire separation from casing;

(b) two inches of plies exposed.

(10) Rim Cracks:

(a) any circumferential crack except manufactured;

(b) lock or side ring cracked, bent, broken, sprung, improperly seated, or mismatched.

(11) Suspension:

(a) spring assembly leaves broken, missing, or separated;

(b) spring hanger, u-bolts, or axle positioning components cracked, broken, loose, or missing.

(12) Chassis Locking Pins:

any twist lock or fitting for securement which is sprung, broken, or improperly latched.

(E) If the originating motor carrier interchanges the vehicle to another mode of transportation or warehouse in substantially the same condition as it was tendered originally to the motor carrier, the originating motor carrier is relieved of any further responsibility for the condition of the vehicle.

(F) The Department of Public Safety shall develop and maintain a separate database on roadside vehicle inspection reports for power unit defects and for defects on any vehicle tendered to the motor carrier. The database may be used to identify and monitor those entities whose responsibility it is to provide any vehicle to motor carriers in roadworthy conditions as prescribed by the FMCSR. Roadside vehicle inspection reports noting defects on any vehicle where there is not ownership by the motor carrier must not be used or applied against the motor carrier when this information may affect the motor carrier’s overall record of compliance with the FMCSR.

(G) Nothing in this section prevents a tenderer who is a railroad or a rail intermodal carrier and a motor carrier operator from agreeing to a different allocation of responsibility for compliance of a vehicle with the requirements of this section when the vehicle is owned or has been in the possession of or under the control of a railroad or rail intermodal carrier. This subsection does not apply to § 56-5-4170(E).