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Title 49 — TransportationRelease 119-73not60

§11301 Equipment Trusts: Recordation; Evidence of Indebtedness

Title 49 › Subtitle SUBTITLE IV— INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION › Part A— RAIL › Chapter 113— FINANCE › Subchapter I— EQUIPMENT TRUSTS AND SECURITY INTERESTS › § 11301

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

File with the Board any written, signed, and verified paper that shows a mortgage, lease, equipment trust, conditional sale, or similar claim on vessels, railroad cars, locomotives, other rolling stock, or their accessories when used in interstate commerce. If you assign, change, release, or satisfy one of those papers, you must file that document too. Filing gives public notice and makes the claim enforceable. You do not have to file the same paper under other federal, state, or local filing laws. This does not change chapter 313 of title 46. The Board will keep a public record system. It will number each filing, record the date and time, and keep an index with names and addresses of the main debtors, trustees, guarantors, and others. The Board may hire private contractors to help. Papers made under a foreign country’s law that cover equipment marked with that country’s reporting marks and ID numbers may be filed. Filed or recognized interests are treated as perfected everywhere, and state or foreign law applies for other issues. The Board must keep a railway equipment register like the Interstate Commerce Commission’s format as of January 1, 1996.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §11301

Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A mortgage (other than a mortgage under chapter 313 of title 46), lease, equipment trust agreement, conditional sales agreement, or other instrument evidencing the mortgage, lease, conditional sale, or bailment of or security interest in vessels, railroad cars, locomotives, or other rolling stock, or accessories used on such railroad cars, locomotives, or other rolling stock (including superstructures and racks), intended for a use related to interstate commerce shall be filed with the Board in order to perfect the security interest that is the subject of such instrument. An assignment of a right or interest under one of those instruments and an amendment to that instrument or assignment including a release, discharge, or satisfaction of any part of it shall also be filed with the Board. The instrument, assignment, or amendment must be in writing, executed by the parties to it, and acknowledged or verified under Board regulations. When filed under this section, that document is notice to, and enforceable against, all persons. A document filed under this section does not have to be filed, deposited, registered, or recorded under another law of the United States, a State (or its political subdivisions), or territory or possession of the United States, related to filing, deposit, registration, or recordation of those documents. This section does not change chapter 313 of title 46.
(b)The Board shall maintain a system for recording each document filed under subsection (a) of this section and mark each of them with a consecutive number and the date and hour of their recordation. The Board shall maintain and keep open for public inspection an index of documents filed under that subsection. That index shall include the name and address of the principal debtors, trustees, guarantors, and other parties to those documents and may include other facts that will assist in determining the rights of the parties to those transactions.
(c)The Board may to the greatest extent practicable perform its functions under this section through contracts with private sector entities.
(d)A mortgage, lease, equipment trust agreement, conditional sales agreement, or other instrument evidencing the mortgage, lease, conditional sale, or bailment of or security interest in vessels, railroad cars, locomotives, or other rolling stock, or accessories used on such railroad cars, locomotives, or other rolling stock (including superstructures and racks), or any assignment thereof, which—
(1)is duly constituted under the laws of a country other than the United States; and
(2)relates to property that bears the reporting marks and identification numbers of any person domiciled in or corporation organized under the laws of such country,
(e)Interests with respect to which documents are filed or recognized under this section are deemed perfected in all jurisdictions, and shall be governed by applicable State or foreign law in all matters not specifically governed by this section.
(f)The Board shall collect, maintain, and keep open for public inspection a railway equipment register consistent with the manner and format maintained by the Interstate Commerce Commission as of January 1, 1996.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 11303 of this title prior to the general amendment of this subtitle by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). A prior section 11301, Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1428; Pub. L. 103–429, § 6(16), Oct. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 4379, related to authority of certain carriers to issue securities and assume obligations and liabilities, prior to the general amendment of this subtitle by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). A prior section 11302, Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1430; Pub. L. 96–296, § 18(a),
July 1, 1980, 96 Stat. 811, provided that section 11301 of this title applied to motor carriers and corporations subject to jurisdiction of Interstate Commerce Commission under former subchapter II of chapter 105 of this title, but did not apply to corporations under a certain capitalization, and that this section did not apply to Federal, State, or local governments, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 97–261, §§ 19(a), 31(a), Sept. 20, 1982, 96 Stat. 1121, 1129, effective on the 60th day after Sept. 20, 1982. Prior section 11303 and 11304 were omitted in the general amendment of this subtitle by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). section 11303, Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1430; Pub. L. 103–272, § 5(m)(30),
July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1378, related to filing and recording of mortgages, leases, equipment trusts, and other agreements with Interstate Commerce Commission. See section 11301 of this title. section 11304, Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1431; Pub. L. 96–258, § 1(12),
June 3, 1980, 94 Stat. 426, related to security interests in certain motor vehicles. See section 14301 of this title.

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–287 substituted “January 1, 1996” for “the

Effective Date

of the ICC Termination Act of 1995”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 104–88, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title. Abolition of Interstate Commerce Commission Interstate Commerce Commission abolished by section 101 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 11301

Title 49 — Transportation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60