II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 659 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate regulations relating 

to commercial motor vehicle drivers under the age of 21, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. KING, Mr. COTTON, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate 

regulations relating to commercial motor vehicle drivers 

under the age of 21, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Developing Respon5 sible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘DRIVE Safe Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM FOR COMMERCIAL 

2 DRIVERS UNDER THE AGE OF 21. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPRENTICE.—The term ‘‘apprentice’’ 

5 means an employee under the age of 21 who holds 

6 a commercial driver’s license required to operate a 

7 class of vehicles described in part 383 of title 49, 

8 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

9 date of enactment of this Act). 

10 (2) COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE.—The 

11 term ‘‘commercial driver’s license’’ has the meaning 

12 given the term in section 31301 of title 49, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (3) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

15 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a commercial 

16 motor vehicle that meets the definition under para17 graph (1) or (4) of the definition of the term ‘‘com18 mercial motor vehicle’’ contained in section 390.5 of 

19 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

20 the date of enactment of this Act). 

21 (4) DRIVING TIME.—The term ‘‘driving time’’ 

22 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

23 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

24 the date of enactment of this Act). 


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1 (5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 31132 of title 49, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (6) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 31132 of title 49, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (7) EXPERIENCED DRIVER.—The term ‘‘experi8 enced driver’’ means an individual who— 

9 (A) is not younger than 21 years of age; 

10 (B) has a minimum of 2 years of experi11 ence driving a commercial motor vehicle in 

12 interstate commerce; and 

13 (C) as of the date on which the individual 

14 serves as an experienced driver for purposes of 

15 subsection (c)(3)(B)— 

16 (i) has held a commercial driver’s li17 cense for each of the 2 preceding calendar 

18 years; and 

19 (ii) for the preceding calendar year, 

20 has had no— 

21 (I) preventable accidents report22 able to the Department of Transpor23 tation; or 

24 (II) pointed moving violations. 


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1 (8) ON-DUTY TIME.—The term ‘‘on-duty time’’ 

2 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

3 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

4 the date of enactment of this Act). 

5 (9) POINTED MOVING VIOLATION.—The term 

6 ‘‘pointed moving violation’’ means a violation that 

7 results in points being added to the license of a driv8 er, or a similar comparable violation, as determined 

9 by the Secretary. 

10 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

11 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

12 (b) APPRENTICES.—An apprentice may— 

13 (1) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter14 state commerce while participating in the 120-hour 

15 probationary period under subsection (c)(1) or the 

16 280-hour probationary period under subsection 

17 (c)(2), pursuant to an apprenticeship program estab18 lished by an employer in accordance with this sec19 tion; and 

20 (2) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter21 state commerce after the apprentice completes an 

22 apprenticeship program described in subsection (c). 

23 (c) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—An apprenticeship 

24 program referred to in subsection (b) is a program that 

25 consists of the following requirements: 


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1 (1) 120-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—An apprentice shall 

3 complete 120 hours of on-duty time, of which 

4 not fewer than 80 hours shall be driving time 

5 in a commercial motor vehicle. 

6 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—To 

7 complete the 120-hour probationary period 

8 under subparagraph (A), the employer of an ap9 prentice shall determine that the apprentice is 

10 competent in each of the following areas: 

11 (i) Interstate, city traffic, rural 2- 

12 lane, and evening driving. 

13 (ii) Safety awareness. 

14 (iii) Speed and space management. 

15 (iv) Lane control. 

16 (v) Mirror scanning. 

17 (vi) Right and left turns. 

18 (vii) Logging and complying with 

19 rules relating to hours of service. 

20 (2) 280-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—After completing the 

22 120-hour probationary period under paragraph 

23 (1), an apprentice shall complete 280 hours of 

24 on-duty time, of which not fewer than 160 


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1 hours shall be driving time in a commercial 

2 motor vehicle. 

3 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—To 

4 complete the 280-hour probationary period 

5 under subparagraph (A), the employer of an ap6 prentice shall determine that the apprentice is 

7 competent in each of the following areas: 

8 (i) Backing and maneuvering in close 

9 quarters. 

10 (ii) Pretrip inspections. 

11 (iii) Fueling procedures. 

12 (iv) Weighing loads, weight distribu13 tion, and sliding tandems. 

14 (v) Coupling and uncoupling proce15 dures. 

16 (vi) Trip planning, truck routes, map 

17 reading, navigation, and permits. 

18 (3) RESTRICTIONS.—During each probationary 

19 period under paragraphs (1) and (2)— 

20 (A) an apprentice may only drive a com21 mercial motor vehicle that has— 

22 (i) an automatic manual or automatic 

23 transmission; 

24 (ii) an active braking collision mitiga25 tion system; 


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1 (iii) forward-facing video event cap2 ture; and 

3 (iv) a governed speed of 65 miles per 

4 hour— 

5 (I) at the pedal; and 

6 (II) under adaptive cruise con7 trol; and 

8 (B) an apprentice shall be accompanied in 

9 the cab of the commercial motor vehicle by an 

10 experienced driver. 

11 (4) RECORDS RETENTION.—An employer shall 

12 maintain records, in a manner required by the Sec13 retary, relating to the satisfaction of the perform14 ance benchmarks described in paragraphs (1)(B) 

15 and (2)(B) by each apprentice of the employer. 

16 (5) REPORTABLE INCIDENTS.—If an apprentice 

17 is involved in a preventable accident reportable to 

18 the Department of Transportation or a pointed mov19 ing violation while driving a commercial motor vehi20 cle as part of an apprenticeship program described 

21 in this subsection, the apprentice shall undergo re22 mediation and additional training until the appren23 tice can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the em24 ployer, competence in each of the performance 


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1 benchmarks described in paragraphs (1)(B) and 

2 (2)(B). 

3 (6) COMPLETION OF PROGRAM.—An apprentice 

4 shall be considered to have completed an apprentice5 ship program on the date on which the apprentice 

6 completes the 280-hour probationary period under 

7 paragraph (2). 

8 (7) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

10 prevents an employer from imposing any addi11 tional requirement on an apprentice partici12 pating in an apprenticeship program under this 

13 section. 

14 (B) TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this sec15 tion prevents an employer from requiring or in16 stalling a technology in a commercial motor ve17 hicle in addition to the technologies described in 

18 paragraph (3)(A). 

19 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul21 gate regulations to implement this section. 

22 (e) NO EFFECT ON LICENSE REQUIREMENT.—Noth23 ing in this section exempts an apprentice from any re24 quirement to hold a commercial driver’s license in order 

25 to operate a commercial motor vehicle. 


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1 (f) EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY.—An employer shall 

2 not knowingly allow, require, permit, or authorize a driver 

3 under the age of 21 to operate a commercial motor vehicle 

4 in interstate commerce, unless the driver is participating 

5 in, or has completed, an apprenticeship program that 

6 meets the requirements of subsection (c). 

Æ 


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