Trucking law tracker

Regulatory Updates

A plain-English, searchable record of the law that governs freight, every new FMCSA rule and proposed rulemaking as it lands, the federal statutes underneath it, and the standing framework you operate under every day. What changes, when it takes effect, and what it means.

Last reviewed June 7, 2026 · 85 entries
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2026
May 2026ProposedU.S. Congress

BUILD America 250 Act, surface transportation reauthorization

The five-year, roughly $580 billion successor to the 2021 infrastructure law (IIJA), which expires September 30, 2026. For trucking it sets the first federal safety standards for commercial vehicles running autonomous driving systems in interstate commerce, adds annual fees on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, and consolidates grant programs. Still in committee, not yet law, but this is the bill that resets the surface-transportation framework for the next half-decade.

House T&I markup, May 22, 2026fundingautonomoushighway trust fund
~May 2026ProposedFMCSA

Transparency in Property Broker Transactions (second action)

The second move on broker transparency. It would require brokers to keep transaction records electronically and hand them to a carrier or shipper within 48 hours of a request, and, the big shift, reframe the disclosure from a "right the carrier can waive" into a "duty imposed on the broker," which would invalidate the waiver clauses brokers put in carrier contracts. It would let a carrier see the broker’s margin on a load. Still a proposal; the right to request the record already exists today.

49 CFR 371.3 · Docket FMCSA-2023-0257brokermargintransparencywaiver
~May 2026ProposedFMCSA

Automated Driving Systems, inspection, repair & maintenance

A proposed framework for how autonomous trucks are inspected, repaired and maintained on public roads, how an ADS-equipped vehicle proves it is roadworthy when there is no driver to perform a pre-trip. Potentially one of the most consequential rules of the decade for how driverless freight scales.

Anticipated NPRMautonomousADSinspection
Jan 16, 2026In forceFMCSA

Broker & Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility, now enforced

The tightened $75,000 financial-responsibility rules took effect. The security must now be genuinely liquid, a BMC-85 trust has to hold $75,000 in assets convertible to cash within 7 calendar days (cash, an irrevocable letter of credit, or U.S. Treasury bonds). When a broker’s available security drops below $75,000 and is not replenished, FMCSA suspends its operating authority; a surety or trust provider that ignores the rule can lose its authority to file.

49 CFR 387.307brokerbond$75000
Late 2025/2026ProposedNHTSA / FMCSA

Heavy-vehicle automatic emergency braking, revised proposal

After the 2023 joint proposal stalled (it was projected to finalize in 2024 and did not), the agencies signaled a second notice of proposed rulemaking to require automatic emergency braking on heavy trucks and to set performance and motor-carrier maintenance standards for it. Still a proposal, now on its second pass.

Proposed FMVSS No. 136AEBbrakingsafety equipment
2026ProposedU.S. DOL / FMCSA

Worker classification, independent contractor / owner-operator status

Whether an owner-operator is an independent contractor or an employee drives everything from overtime to liability. The federal independent-contractor classification test is back under review, and the outcome reshapes the lease-on owner-operator model the industry runs on.

Under reviewowner-operatorclassificationemployment
2026ProposedFMCSA

Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, data expansion

Proposed changes to widen the availability and usability of Clearinghouse violation data, so employers, states and enforcement can see a driver’s drug-and-alcohol program status more completely. Part of a broader push to close gaps that let prohibited drivers keep operating.

49 CFR Part 382drug testingclearinghouseCDL
2026ProposedDOT / FMCSA

Fentanyl added to the federal drug-testing panel

A proposal to add fentanyl to the mandatory DOT controlled-substances testing panel, reflecting the current opioid landscape. Would expand what a standard regulated drug test screens for.

49 CFR Part 40drug testingfentanylopioids
2026ProposedFMCSA

ELD technical-specification revisions

After years of industry feedback and device-fraud concerns, FMCSA is preparing to revise the electronic-logging-device technical specs, certification requirements and compliance expectations, tightening what qualifies as a registered, tamper-resistant ELD.

49 CFR Part 395ELDlogbookhours of service
2026ProposedFMCSA

New Entrant, carrier proficiency exam concept

FMCSA is revisiting how it vets brand-new carriers before granting authority. One concept under consideration: a proficiency exam that requires a new applicant to demonstrate it actually understands the federal safety regulations up front, rather than learning them after a crash.

49 CFR Part 385new entrantauthoritysafety audit
2026ProposedNHTSA

Side underride guards, still under review

Whether to require side underride guards on trailers, barriers that stop a car from sliding under the side of a trailer in a crash, remains under review after an advisory-committee process. Cost and weight objections have kept it short of a mandate; it sits on the list of rules the agency may revisit.

IIJA-directed studyunderridetrailersafety equipment
2026WithdrawnFMCSA

Heavy-vehicle speed-limiter mandate, removed from agenda

The long-pending proposal to electronically govern trucks over 26,000 lbs to a set top speed (commonly floated at 68-70 mph) was officially pulled from the rulemaking agenda after sustained industry and driver opposition. Off the table for now.

Withdrawnspeed limitergovernor
2026In forceFMCSA

Safety Measurement System (SMS) redesign

FMCSA is moving its carrier safety scoring off the long-criticized BASIC display toward a leaner, peer-grouped model with reorganized violation categories and revised severity weighting. The underlying inspection and crash data is unchanged, cleaner operations still produce cleaner scores, but how the percentile is computed and shown is being modernized.

CSA / SMS methodologyCSASMSBASICsafety score
2026In forceFMCSA

Registration system modernization ("Motus")

FMCSA’s modernized online registration platform, replacing the long-delayed Unified Registration System. It centralizes authority applications, bond/insurance filings and update notifications, and adds the agency’s main new anti-fraud defense: identity verification at the point of registration. Applicants confirm a government-issued ID (FMCSA has named identity providers IDEMIA and CLEAR) and a legitimate business before an authority is issued or updated, aimed at stopping fake registrations, fraudulent insurance filings and chameleon carriers at the door. Rolling out through 2026 with a widely reported rough launch, confirm the current steps directly with FMCSA before relying on them.

Replaces URSregistrationURSauthorityfraud
2025
Jun 25, 2025EnforcementFMCSA / DOT

English Language Proficiency back as an out-of-service violation

Following an April 2025 executive order, FMCSA revised its guidance so that a driver who cannot read and speak English well enough to converse with officials, understand highway signs and make entries on reports is again placed out of service at roadside. The statutory requirement never changed, the enforcement posture did, reversing a 2016 policy that had stopped treating it as out-of-service.

49 CFR 391.11(b)(2)ELPEnglishout of servicedriver qualification
Jun 23, 2025In forceFMCSA

Medical Examiner’s Certification Integration (National Registry II)

The FMCSA National Registry now transmits DOT medical-exam results electronically straight to state driver-licensing agencies, and the certified examiner must upload results by the end of the next day. In integrated states the paper Medical Examiner’s Certificate is no longer proof of medical certification, though a temporary waiver let drivers in not-yet-integrated states keep using paper cards into early 2026.

49 CFR Parts 383 / 391medical cardmed certCDLNational Registry
Jan 13, 2025WithdrawnCARB / EPA

California Advanced Clean Fleets, waiver request withdrawn

California withdrew its federal Clean Air Act waiver request for the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, and announced it will not enforce the portions that need a waiver, including the high-priority and drayage-fleet zero-emission mandates that would have hit trucking hardest. State and local government-fleet provisions, which need no waiver, remain.

Clean Air Act § 209emissionszero emissionCaliforniadrayage
2025EnforcementFMCSA

Non-domiciled CDL scrutiny and state audits

A tightened enforcement focus on non-domiciled commercial driver licenses, verifying lawful presence, issuance standards and state compliance, after audits found gaps in how some states issued CDLs to non-domiciled applicants.

49 CFR Parts 383 / 384CDLnon-domiciledlicensing
2025EnforcementFMCSA

Registration and identity-fraud crackdown

An intensified effort against operating-authority fraud, cloned MC numbers, spoofed carriers and fake registrations used to double-broker and steal freight, pairing identity verification at registration with enforcement against the schemes the broker-transparency rulemaking also targets.

NCCDB / registrationfrauddouble brokeringidentityMC number
2023
Nov 2023Final ruleFMCSA

Broker & Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility, final rule

FMCSA published the final rule tightening the $75,000 security: readily-available (liquid) assets, immediate suspension when security falls below the floor, and defined surety/trustee duties on a broker’s financial failure. The compliance date for the core provisions was later extended to January 16, 2026.

49 CFR 387.307brokerbondsuretytrust
2024
Nov 20, 2024ProposedFMCSA

Transparency in Property Broker Transactions, first NPRM

The proposed rule that opened the modern broker-transparency fight: electronic records, prompt production on request, and an attack on the contract clauses where carriers "waive" the right to see the transaction record. Drew roughly 7,000 comments, brokers (TIA) against, owner-operators (OOIDA) for.

49 CFR 371.3 · Docket FMCSA-2023-0257brokertransparencymarginwaiver
Nov 18, 2024In forceFMCSA

Clearinghouse-II, CDL downgrade for "prohibited" drivers

States must now downgrade the commercial driving privilege of any driver sitting in "prohibited" status in the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, meaning a positive test or refusal with no completed return-to-duty process removes the CDL itself, not just the job. Closed the loophole where a prohibited driver could simply move to another carrier.

49 CFR Parts 382 / 383 / 384clearinghousedrug testingCDL downgrade
Mar 29, 2024Final ruleEPA

EPA "Clean Trucks" Phase 3 greenhouse-gas standards

EPA finalized stricter CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles starting in model year 2027 and tightening through 2032, up to a 60% per-ton-mile cut for vocational trucks and 40% for tractors versus prior levels. Drives engine, efficiency and increasingly zero-emission powertrain choices for new equipment.

Clean Air Actemissionsgreenhouse gas2027engines
2024ProposedFMCSA

Household-goods consumer protection / broker fraud

FMCSA has been tightening the rules around household-goods moves and moving brokers, disclosure of estimates, the consumer-rights booklet, and action against hostage-load and deceptive-estimate schemes that hit consumers moving their homes.

49 CFR Parts 371 / 375household goodsmovingconsumerbroker
2023
May 2, 2023Final ruleDOT (ODAPC)

Oral-fluid drug testing authorized

DOT amended its testing rules to permit oral-fluid (saliva) collection alongside urine for regulated drug tests, a tool against urine-test cheating and useful for observed collections. In practice it has been on hold because HHS had not yet certified the laboratories needed to actually run the method.

49 CFR Part 40drug testingoral fluidsaliva
2023ProposedNHTSA / FMCSA

Heavy-vehicle automatic emergency braking, first NPRM

The original joint proposal to require automatic emergency braking on heavy trucks, directed by the 2021 infrastructure law. It set off the rulemaking that later stalled and is now being re-proposed.

Proposed FMVSS No. 136AEBbrakingsafety equipment
2023ProposedFMCSA

Truth-in-leasing / owner-operator lease reform review

FMCSA opened a review (driven by a Congressional directive and owner-operator petitions) of the leasing regulations that govern how motor carriers lease on owner-operators, chargebacks, settlement transparency and what a lease must disclose. The same transparency themes as the broker rule, on the carrier-driver side.

49 CFR Part 376leaseowner-operatorchargebackssettlement
2023In forceFMCSA

Crash Preventability Determination Program, expanded

FMCSA broadened the list of crash types a carrier can ask to have reviewed for preventability, if the crash was not preventable (struck while legally stopped, hit by a wrong-way or impaired driver, struck in the rear), it can be marked as not weighing against the carrier’s Crash Indicator. A direct lever on your safety profile.

SMS / Crash IndicatorcrashpreventabilityCSADataQs
2022
Dec 20, 2022Final ruleEPA

EPA heavy-duty NOx standard for 2027

The first tightening of clean-air NOx limits for commercial trucks in over 20 years, applying to model year 2027 and beyond, cutting allowable nitrogen-oxide emissions sharply during normal and low-load operation. Sits alongside the Phase 3 greenhouse-gas rule as the pair reshaping new-truck powertrains.

Clean Air ActemissionsNOx2027engines
Jul 2022Final ruleNHTSA

Rear underride guard standard upgraded

NHTSA upgraded the strength and performance standard for rear impact (underride) guards on trailers, as directed by the 2021 infrastructure law, the barrier meant to keep a car from sliding under the back of a trailer in a rear-end crash.

FMVSS 223 / 224underridetrailerrear guardsafety equipment
Apr 2022WithdrawnFMCSA

Speed-limiter ANPRM (later dropped)

FMCSA floated an advance notice signaling intent to require speed limiters on heavy trucks, reviving a decade-old idea. After heavy opposition the effort was ultimately removed from the agenda in 2026, the arc from proposal to dead.

ANPRMspeed limitergovernor
Feb 7, 2022In forceFMCSA

Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) standards

Anyone obtaining a first CDL, upgrading class, or adding a hazmat, passenger or school-bus endorsement must first complete theory and behind-the-wheel training from a provider listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry. Set a federal floor for driver training that previously varied wildly by school and state.

49 CFR Part 380driver trainingCDLELDTendorsements
2022In forceFMCSA

Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot, under-21 interstate

A three-year pilot, directed by the 2021 infrastructure law, allowing supervised 18-to-20-year-old CDL holders to drive in interstate commerce under an apprenticeship with experienced-driver hours and equipment requirements, testing whether the interstate age floor of 21 can be safely lowered.

IIJA § 23022under 21apprenticeshipCDLinterstate
2021
Nov 15, 2021In forceU.S. Congress

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)

The current surface-transportation law (expiring September 30, 2026). For trucking it ordered a stack of rulemakings, the under-21 apprenticeship pilot, automatic emergency braking, underride study, crash-data work, and funded the highway program states run on. The framework the BUILD America 250 Act is now written to replace.

Pub. L. 117-58reauthorizationfundingsafety mandates
Jun 12, 2021In forceTransport Canada

Canadian ELD mandate (federal)

Canada’s federally regulated carriers came under an ELD mandate, with a certified third-party device standard. After an education period, roadside enforcement and penalties began January 1, 2023, so a U.S. carrier running into Canada needs a Canada-compliant ELD, not just a U.S.-registered one.

SOR/2019-165ELDCanadacross-borderhours of service
2020
Sep 29, 2020In forceFMCSA

Hours-of-Service flexibility rule

The HOS revision that shaped today’s clock: the 30-minute break now triggers after 8 hours of driving (not on-duty) time and can be satisfied on duty-not-driving; the sleeper-berth split allows 7/3 and 8/2 pairings; the short-haul exception expanded to 150 air-miles and 14 hours; and the adverse-conditions exception was widened. Flexibility, not more hours.

49 CFR Part 395hours of serviceHOSbreaksleeper berth
Jan 6, 2020In forceFMCSA

Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse launched

The federal database of CDL-driver drug-and-alcohol violations went live. Carriers must query it before hiring and annually for current drivers, and must report violations into it, making a positive test or refusal follow the driver instead of disappearing when they change jobs.

49 CFR Part 382, Subpart Gclearinghousedrug testingqueryCDL
2019
Dec 16, 2019In forceFMCSA

AOBRD sunset, full ELD enforcement

The grandfather period ended: older automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs) were no longer acceptable, and every covered driver had to be running a fully registered ELD. The hard close of the ELD transition that began in 2017.

49 CFR Part 395, Subpart BELDAOBRDlogbook
2018
2018EnforcementFMCSA

Personal Conveyance guidance updated

FMCSA clarified when a driver may log off-duty "personal conveyance" while moving the truck, for example to a nearby safe resting spot after loading, and when they may not (to advance the load toward delivery). A small line that decides a lot of HOS disputes at audit.

49 CFR Part 395 guidancepersonal conveyancehours of serviceELD
2017
Dec 18, 2017In forceFMCSA

Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate

Most interstate commercial drivers required to record hours of service on a registered electronic logging device instead of paper. The single biggest operational change in modern trucking compliance, it made hours objective, timestamped and far harder to falsify.

49 CFR Part 395, Subpart BELDlogbookhours of service
2016
2016EnforcementFMCSA

English Language Proficiency dropped as out-of-service

FMCSA guidance stopped treating an English-proficiency failure as an automatic out-of-service violation, the policy that stood until the 2025 reversal put it back. Included here because the requirement itself never left the books; only the enforcement swung.

49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) guidanceELPEnglishout of service
2016EnforcementFMCSA

ARCHI, automated chameleon-carrier screening

FMCSA expanded automated screening of new-carrier applications to catch reincarnated ("chameleon") operators, a program reported as ARCHI (Application Review and Chameleon Investigation). It compares each applicant against historical records (name, address, phone, EIN, ownership, VINs) and flags resemblance to a previously shut-down carrier with a troubled history, building on the 2012 GAO finding that chameleon-attribute applicants crashed far more often. The vetting mandate behind it traces to MAP-21; the underlying power to refuse or revoke registration is 49 U.S.C. § 13905. It runs quietly inside registration and is now folded into the broader Motus / identity-verification push above.

GAO-12-364 · MAP-21 vetting · 49 U.S.C. § 13905chameleonreincarnatedregistrationfraud
2015
Dec 4, 2015In forceU.S. Congress

FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act)

The five-year reauthorization before IIJA. Among other things it pulled property-carrier CSA/SMS percentile scores from public view pending a study of the methodology, directed safety-data reforms, and continued the registration modernization push.

Pub. L. 114-94reauthorizationCSAscoresfunding
2015In forceFMCSA

Unified Registration System (URS) phase-in

FMCSA began consolidating its registration processes around a single USDOT-number identifier and moving away from the separate MC docket number, the start of the long (and repeatedly delayed) transition that the "Motus" platform is meant to finally complete.

49 CFR Part 390registrationURSUSDOTMC number
2014
May 21, 2014In forceFMCSA

National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners

DOT physical exams for CDL drivers had to be performed by a medical examiner trained, tested and listed on FMCSA’s National Registry, ending the era of getting a medical card from any walk-in clinic. The base layer the 2025 electronic-integration rule was built on.

49 CFR Part 390 Subpart Dmedical cardexaminerNational Registry
2013
Oct 1, 2013In forceFMCSA

Broker bond raised $10,000 → $75,000

The MAP-21 increase took effect, raising the broker/forwarder financial-responsibility minimum more than sevenfold, from a token $10,000 to $75,000, because the old figure was meaningless against the volume of freight money moving through brokerages. The number every bond claim is measured against today.

49 CFR 387.307 (via MAP-21)brokerbond$75000
2012
Jul 6, 2012In forceU.S. Congress

MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act)

A landmark reauthorization for brokers and carriers: it set the $75,000 bond increase (effective 2013), created the unlawful-brokering civil-penalty statute at 49 U.S.C. § 14916 (up to $10,000, plus liability to the injured party), and pushed registration and safety-fitness reforms. The legal backbone of modern broker accountability.

Pub. L. 112-141reauthorizationbrokerbond14916
Jan 3, 2012In forceFMCSA

Hand-held mobile phone ban for CMV drivers

FMCSA prohibited commercial drivers from holding, dialing or reaching for a hand-held phone while driving, building on the 2010 texting ban. Violations carry driver fines, employer penalties and CSA points, and a pattern can disqualify a CDL.

49 CFR 392.82distracted drivingphonetexting
2010
2010In forceFMCSA

Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) launched

FMCSA rolled out CSA and its Safety Measurement System, scoring carriers from roadside-inspection and crash data across behavior categories (the BASICs) and ranking them by percentile against peers. The framework brokers, shippers and insurers have screened carriers on ever since.

SMS / BASICsCSASMSBASICsafety score
2010In forceFMCSA

Texting ban for CMV drivers

The first federal prohibition on texting while driving a commercial vehicle, the opening move in the distracted-driving rules that the 2012 hand-held phone ban completed.

49 CFR 392.80distracted drivingtextingphone
2009
Dec 2009In forceFMCSA

New Entrant Safety Assurance Program

Set the 18-month monitoring period and safety audit every brand-new interstate carrier passes through, with automatic-failure standards (no drug program, a revoked-CDL driver) and a corrective-action path. The gate a carrier clears in its first year.

49 CFR Part 385new entrantsafety auditauthority
2005
2005In forceU.S. Congress

Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Act

Replaced the old single-state registration system with a multi-state program funding commercial-vehicle safety enforcement. Every interstate carrier, plus brokers, forwarders and leasing companies, must register and pay an annual fleet-tiered fee, no vehicles required for the intermediary tiers.

49 CFR Part 367UCRregistrationannual feebroker
2005In forceU.S. Congress

SAFETEA-LU reauthorization

The surface-transportation reauthorization that carried the UCR Act and a range of motor-carrier safety and funding provisions, part of the every-few-years cycle that MAP-21, the FAST Act and IIJA continued.

Pub. L. 109-59reauthorizationfundingUCR
1999
1999In forceU.S. Congress

Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act, FMCSA created

Split the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration out as its own agency dedicated to commercial-vehicle safety, with the authority under which CSA, the safety-fitness framework and most modern carrier rules are issued and enforced.

49 U.S.C. §§ 31100-31104FMCSAsafetyagency
1995
1995In forceU.S. Congress

ICC Termination Act

Abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and moved motor-carrier economic regulation to the Department of Transportation and the Surface Transportation Board. The restructuring that gives us the modern Title 49 broker/carrier registration and the 49 U.S.C. § 13xxx framework cited throughout these guides.

Pub. L. 104-88 · 49 U.S.C. subtitle IVICCderegulationSTBauthority
1994
1994In forceU.S. Congress

FAAAA, federal preemption of state trucking economic rules

The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act barred states from enforcing laws "related to a price, route, or service" of a carrier or broker, with a safety exception. This is the statute at the center of whether a broker can be sued for negligently selecting an unsafe carrier; courts remain split on how far its safety exception reaches.

49 U.S.C. § 14501preemptionFAAAAbroker liabilitynegligent selection
1993
1993In forceU.S. Congress

Negotiated Rates Act

Resolved the "undercharge crisis", the wave of claims by bankrupt carriers’ trustees demanding the difference between negotiated rates and higher filed tariff rates. Part of the deregulatory dismantling of the old tariff-filing world.

Pub. L. 103-180ratesunderchargefreight charges
1986
1986In forceU.S. Congress

Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the CDL

Created the modern Commercial Driver’s License and the rule that a driver may hold only one license, ending the practice of carrying licenses from several states to dodge suspensions. The foundation of CDL standards, disqualifications and the medical-card system.

49 U.S.C. ch. 313CDLlicensedriver qualification
1984
1984In forceU.S. Congress

Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984

Gave the federal government broad authority to set and enforce the commercial-vehicle safety regulations, the statutory root of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (the 49 CFR Parts 350-399 a carrier lives under).

49 U.S.C. ch. 311safety regulationsFMCSR
1982
1982In forceU.S. Congress

Surface Transportation Assistance Act, driver whistleblower protection

Among other things (truck size-and-weight standards, the fuel tax), it protects a driver from being fired or punished for refusing to drive an unsafe or illegal load, or for reporting safety violations. A real, federally enforceable shield against retaliation, complaints go to OSHA.

49 U.S.C. § 31105whistleblowerretaliationdriver rightssize and weight
1980
1980In forceU.S. Congress

Motor Carrier Act of 1980, deregulation

Deregulated interstate trucking, easing entry, loosening rate controls and opening the market that today’s broker-carrier spot economy grew out of. The before-and-after line for how freight pricing and authority work.

Pub. L. 96-296deregulationratesentrymarket
1975
1975In forceU.S. Congress

Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

The statute behind the Hazardous Materials Regulations, classification, packaging, labeling, placarding, shipping papers and driver endorsements for dangerous goods, administered today by PHMSA and enforced on the road by FMCSA.

now 49 U.S.C. ch. 51hazmatPHMSAdangerous goods
1966
1966In forceU.S. Congress

Department of Transportation Act

Created the U.S. Department of Transportation, consolidating federal transport functions, the parent department of FMCSA, NHTSA, PHMSA and the rest of the alphabet that writes the rules in this tracker.

Pub. L. 89-670DOTagencyfederal
1956
1956In forceU.S. Congress

Federal-Aid Highway Act, Interstates & the Highway Trust Fund

Built the Interstate Highway System and created the Highway Trust Fund, financed by the federal fuel tax that trucks pay at the pump. The fund whose looming shortfall now complicates every reauthorization, including the 2026 bill.

Pub. L. 84-627highway trust fundfuel taxinterstate
1935
1935In forceU.S. Congress

Motor Carrier Act of 1935, federal authority begins

First brought interstate trucking under federal economic regulation, requiring operating authority, insurance and rate filings through the ICC. The origin of the operating-authority concept that the MC number still represents.

Historical (ICC)authorityICCregistrationhistory
1906
1906In forceU.S. Congress

Carmack Amendment, carrier cargo liability

The statute that still governs nearly every cargo loss-and-damage claim in interstate trucking: the carrier is liable for the actual loss to freight moving under its bill of lading unless it proves freedom from negligence and one of five narrow excepted causes. Over a century of case law has sharpened it, and it preempts conflicting state law.

49 U.S.C. § 14706cargo claimCarmackliabilitybill of lading
Standing framework
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Operating authority & registration

You must hold the FMCSA authority that matches what you do, motor carrier of property (common or contract), broker, or freight forwarder, and operating outside it can void insurance and trigger penalties. A broker also needs the $75,000 bond; a forwarder needs the bond plus cargo and liability cover.

49 U.S.C. §§ 13901-13905; 49 CFR Part 365authorityMC numberUSDOTbroker
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Hours of Service

The 11-hour driving limit inside a 14-hour window after 10 hours off; the 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving; the 60/70-hour weekly limit with a 34-hour restart; sleeper-berth splits and adverse-conditions and short-haul exceptions. Recorded on a registered ELD.

49 CFR Part 395hours of serviceHOS11 hour14 hour
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Commercial Driver’s License standards

Who needs a CDL, the classes and endorsements (hazmat, tanker, doubles/triples, passenger), the one-license rule, and the major and serious offenses that disqualify a commercial driver. The license rulebook itself.

49 CFR Part 383CDLlicenseendorsementsdisqualification
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Driver qualification files

What a carrier must hold on every driver, the application, the motor-vehicle-record checks, the road test or equivalent, the medical certificate, and the annual review of driving record, plus the English-language and physical-qualification standards.

49 CFR Part 391driver qualificationDQ filemedical cardMVR
In forceIn forceFMCSA / DOT

Controlled-substances & alcohol testing

Pre-employment, random (50% drugs / 10% alcohol annual minimum rates), post-accident, reasonable-suspicion, return-to-duty and follow-up testing, with results and refusals reported into the Clearinghouse. Part 40 is the DOT-wide collection and lab procedure.

49 CFR Part 382 & Part 40drug testingalcoholrandomclearinghouse
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Inspection, repair & maintenance

Systematic maintenance records for every vehicle, the driver vehicle inspection report (DVIR), the annual periodic inspection, and the out-of-service rules a roadside inspector applies. "Fix it when it breaks" is not a maintenance program at audit.

49 CFR Part 396maintenanceinspectionDVIRannual inspection
In forceIn forceFMCSA / NHTSA

Parts & accessories / vehicle safety standards

The condition-of-equipment rules, brakes, lighting, tires, coupling, and the cargo-securement standards (working load limits, tiedowns by commodity). NHTSA’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards govern how the equipment was built.

49 CFR Part 393; FMVSS Part 571equipmentbrakeslightingFMVSS
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Financial responsibility & insurance minimums

Public-liability minimums of $750,000 (general freight), $1,000,000 (oil/listed) and $5,000,000 (most hazmat), filed on form BMC-91/91X; household-goods cargo cover (BMC-34); and the broker/forwarder $75,000 bond. The financial floor that keeps authority alive.

49 CFR Part 387; 49 U.S.C. § 13906insuranceBMC-91cargo$750
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Broker records & transparency

A broker must keep a record of each transaction, including its compensation and the amount paid to the carrier, for three years, and both the shipper and the carrier have the right to review it. The base the 2024-2026 transparency rulemaking is built to strengthen.

49 CFR Part 371brokerrecords371.3transparency
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Cargo-claim processing (Carmack procedure)

The procedural rules under Carmack: what a written claim must contain, the 30-day acknowledgment and 120-day pay/deny windows, and the minimum 9 months to file a claim and 2 years to sue. The mechanics that decide cargo disputes.

49 CFR Part 370cargo claimCarmack9 monthsdenial
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Truth in leasing (owner-operators)

What a lease between a motor carrier and an owner-operator must say, the term, compensation, who pays for what, chargeback disclosure, and the requirement to return escrow. The carrier-side analog to broker transparency.

49 CFR Part 376leaseowner-operatorchargebackssettlement
In forceIn forceFMCSA

Process agents (BOC-3)

Every carrier, broker and forwarder must designate an agent in each state who can accept legal service on its behalf, filed on a BOC-3. No BOC-3 on file, no operating authority, and a stale designation can mean a default judgment you never saw coming.

49 U.S.C. § 13304; 49 CFR Part 366BOC-3process agentservice of process
In forceIn forcePHMSA / FMCSA

Hazardous Materials Regulations

Classification, packaging, marking, labeling, placarding, shipping papers, the hazmat endorsement (with TSA threat assessment) and the Hazmat Safety Permit for the most dangerous loads. A whole compliance world on top of general freight.

49 CFR Parts 100-185hazmatdangerous goodsplacardingshipping papers
In forceIn forceFMCSA

USDOT identification & MCS-150 updates

Display of the USDOT number, the company information on file, and the biennial MCS-150 update keyed to your USDOT digits, miss the window and the number can be deactivated, taking you out of service until you re-file.

49 CFR §§ 390.19 / 390.21USDOT numberMCS-150biennial updatemarkings
In forceIn forceInterstate compact

IFTA, International Fuel Tax Agreement

One quarterly fuel-tax return filed with your base state for all member jurisdictions, settled among them. Rates change every quarter (some states add a surcharge), and audits are about records, keep mileage and fuel receipts at least four years.

State-adopted compactIFTAfuel taxquarterlybase state
In forceIn forceInterstate compact

IRP, International Registration Plan

One apportioned plate, registered through your base state, with fees distributed by the share of miles you run in each member jurisdiction. The registration twin of IFTA.

State-adopted compactIRPapportioned plateregistrationmileage
In forceIn forceIRS

Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (Form 2290)

A federal annual tax on highway vehicles of 55,000 lbs or more gross weight, graduated up to a maximum of $550 a year at 75,000 lbs, filed on IRS Form 2290. Proof of payment is required to register the plate.

IRC § 4481; Form 2290HVUT2290taxheavy vehicle
In forceIn forceCBP / CBSA

Cross-border entry (US-Canada / US-Mexico)

Running into Canada or Mexico means electronic manifests (ACE southbound/inbound US, ACI/eManifest into Canada) and the matching barcoded shipment programs (PAPS, PARS) filed before arrival, plus a carrier code and the right insurance endorsement. A separate clearance layer on top of FMCSA authority.

ACE / ACI eManifest; PARS / PAPScross-borderCanadaMexicomanifest
In forceIn forceFMCSA

CSA / Safety Measurement System

Your public safety percentile, built from roadside inspections and crashes, that brokers, shippers and insurers screen you on. Clean inspections dilute old violations; wrong records can be challenged through DataQs. Being redesigned, but the underlying data is the constant.

CSA programCSASMSBASICDataQs
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This tracker is a plain-English summary of federal and interstate transportation law for general information. Dates and statuses for proposed rules can shift; always confirm the current text against the Federal Register, the U.S. Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, or counsel before acting on a specific situation.