I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1745 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations relating to 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. 

LAHOOD, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. GOLDEN, and Mrs. HINSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue 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’’. 

7 SEC. 2. APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM FOR COMMERCIAL 

8 DRIVERS UNDER THE AGE OF 21. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 means an employee under the age of 21 who holds 

3 a commercial driver’s license required to operate a 

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

5 Code of Federal Regulations. 

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

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

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

9 States Code. 

10 (3) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

11 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a commercial 

12 motor vehicle that meets the definition under para13 graph (1) or (4) of the definition of the term ‘‘com14 mercial motor vehicle’’ in section 390.5 of title 49, 

15 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

16 date of enactment of this Act). 

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

18 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

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

20 the date of enactment of this Act). 

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

22 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 

23 49, United States Code. 


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

2 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 

3 49, United States Code. 

4 (7) EXPERIENCED DRIVER.—The term ‘‘experi5 enced driver’’ means an individual who— 

6 (A) is not less than 21 years of age; 

7 (B) has held a commercial driver’s license 

8 for the 2-year period ending on the date on 

9 which the individual serves as an experienced 

10 driver under subsection (c)(3)(B); 

11 (C) has had no preventable accidents re12 portable to the Department of Transportation 

13 or pointed moving violations during the 1-year 

14 period ending on the date on which the indi15 vidual serves as an experienced driver under 

16 subsection (c)(3)(B); and 

17 (D) has a minimum of 2 years of experi18 ence driving a commercial motor vehicle in 

19 interstate commerce. 

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

21 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

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

23 the date of enactment of this Act). 

24 (9) POINTED MOVING VIOLATION.—The term 

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


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1 results in points being added to the license of a driv2 er, or a similar comparable violation, as determined 

3 by the Secretary. 

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

5 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

6 (b) APPRENTICE.—An apprentice may— 

7 (1) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter8 state commerce while taking part in the 120-hour 

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

10 280-hour probationary period under subsection 

11 (c)(2), pursuant to an apprenticeship program estab12 lished by an employer in accordance with this sec13 tion; and 

14 (2) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter15 state commerce after the apprentice completes an 

16 apprenticeship program described in paragraph (1). 

17 (c) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—An apprenticeship 

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

19 consists of the following requirements: 

20 (1) 120-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The apprentice shall 

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

23 not less than 80 hours are driving time in a 

24 commercial motor vehicle. 


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1 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

2 order to complete the 120-hour probationary 

3 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

4 shall determine that the apprentice is com5 petent in each of the following areas: 

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

7 lane, and evening driving. 

8 (ii) Safety awareness. 

9 (iii) Speed and space management. 

10 (iv) Lane control. 

11 (v) Mirror scanning. 

12 (vi) Right and left turns. 

13 (vii) Logging and complying with 

14 rules relating to hours of service. 

15 (2) 280-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—After completing the 

17 120-hour probationary period under paragraph 

18 (1), the apprentice shall complete 280 hours of 

19 on-duty time, of which not less than 160 hours 

20 are driving time in a commercial motor vehicle. 

21 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

22 order to complete the 280-hour probationary 

23 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

24 shall determine that the apprentice is com25 petent in each of the following areas: 


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1 (i) Backing and maneuvering in close 

2 quarters. 

3 (ii) Pre-trip inspections. 

4 (iii) Fueling procedures. 

5 (iv) Weighing loads, weight distribu6 tion, and sliding tandems. 

7 (v) Coupling and uncoupling proce8 dures. 

9 (vi) Trip planning, truck routes, map 

10 reading, navigation, and permits. 

11 (3) RESTRICTIONS FOR 120-HOUR AND 280- 

12 HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIODS.—During the 120- 

13 hour probationary period under paragraph (1) and 

14 the 280-hour probationary period under paragraph 

15 (2)— 

16 (A) the apprentice may only drive a com17 mercial motor vehicle that has— 

18 (i) automatic manual or automatic 

19 transmissions; 

20 (ii) active braking collision mitigation 

21 systems; 

22 (iii) forward-facing video event cap23 ture; and 


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1 (iv) governed speeds of 65 miles per 

2 hour at the pedal and 65 miles per hour 

3 under adaptive cruise control; and 

4 (B) the apprentice shall be accompanied in 

5 the cab of the commercial motor vehicle by an 

6 experienced driver. 

7 (4) RECORDS RETENTION.—The employer shall 

8 maintain records, in a manner required by the Sec9 retary, relating to the satisfaction of the require10 ments of paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) by the ap11 prentice. 

12 (5) REPORTABLE INCIDENTS.—If the appren13 tice is involved in a preventable accident reportable 

14 to the Department of Transportation or a pointed 

15 moving violation while driving a commercial motor 

16 vehicle as part of an apprenticeship program de17 scribed in this subsection, the apprentice shall un18 dergo remediation and additional training until the 

19 apprentice can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 

20 the employer, competence in each of the performance 

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

22 (2)(B). 

23 (6) COMPLETION OF PROGRAM.—The appren24 tice shall be considered to have completed the ap25 prenticeship program on the date on which the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1745.IH H1745

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1 prentice completes the 280-hour probationary period 

2 under paragraph (2). 

3 (7) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

5 prevents an employer from imposing additional 

6 requirements on an apprentice taking part in 

7 an apprenticeship program established pursuant 

8 to this section. 

9 (B) TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act 

10 prevents an employer from requiring or install11 ing additional technologies in a commercial 

12 motor vehicle in addition to the technologies de13 scribed in paragraph (3)(A). 

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

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul16 gate regulations to implement this Act. 

17 (e) NO EFFECT ON LICENSE REQUIREMENT.—Noth18 ing in this Act exempts an apprentice from any require19 ment to hold a commercial driver’s license in order to op20 erate a commercial motor vehicle. 

21 (f) EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY.—An employer shall 

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

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

24 in interstate commerce unless the driver is participating 


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1 in or has completed an apprenticeship program that meets 

2 the requirements of subsection (c). 

Æ 


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