I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1374 

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 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. COOPER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. GREEN of Texas, and Mr. WESTERMAN) 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 individual under the age of 21 who holds 

3 a commercial driver’s license. 

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

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

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

7 States Code. 

8 (3) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

9 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 390.5 of title 49, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enact12 ment of this Act). 

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

14 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

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

16 the date of enactment of this Act). 

17 (5) EXPERIENCED DRIVER.—The term ‘‘experi18 enced driver’’ means an individual who— 

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

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

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

22 which the individual serves as an experienced 

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

24 (C) has had no preventable accidents re25 portable to the Department of Transportation 


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1 or pointed moving violations during the 1-year 

2 period ending on the date on which the indi3 vidual serves as an experienced driver under 

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

5 (D) has a minimum of 2 years of experi6 ence driving a commercial motor vehicle in 

7 interstate commerce. 

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

9 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

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

11 the date of enactment of this Act). 

12 (7) POINTED MOVING VIOLATION.—The term 

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

14 results in points being added to the license of a driv15 er, or a similar comparable violation, as determined 

16 by the Secretary. 

17 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Transportation. 

19 (b) APPRENTICE.—An apprentice may— 

20 (1) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter21 state commerce while taking part in the 120-hour 

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

23 280-hour probationary period under subsection 

24 (c)(2), pursuant to an apprenticeship program estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1374.IH H1374

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1 lished by an employer in accordance with this sec2 tion; and 

3 (2) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter4 state commerce after the apprentice completes an 

5 apprenticeship program described in paragraph (1). 

6 (c) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—An apprenticeship 

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

8 consists of the following requirements: 

9 (1) 120-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The apprentice shall 

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

12 not less than 80 hours are driving time in a 

13 commercial motor vehicle. 

14 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

15 order to complete the 120-hour probationary 

16 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

17 shall determine that the apprentice is com18 petent in each of the following areas: 

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

20 lane, and evening driving. 

21 (ii) Safety awareness. 

22 (iii) Speed and space management. 

23 (iv) Lane control. 

24 (v) Mirror scanning. 

25 (vi) Right and left turns. 


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1 (vii) Logging and complying with 

2 rules relating to hours of service. 

3 (2) 280-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—After completing the 

5 120-hour probationary period under paragraph 

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

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

8 are driving time in a commercial motor vehicle. 

9 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

10 order to complete the 280-hour probationary 

11 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

12 shall determine that the apprentice is com13 petent in each of the following areas: 

14 (i) Backing and maneuvering in close 

15 quarters. 

16 (ii) Pre-trip inspections. 

17 (iii) Fueling procedures. 

18 (iv) Weighing loads, weight distribu19 tion, and sliding tandems. 

20 (v) Coupling and uncoupling proce21 dures. 

22 (vi) Trip planning, truck routes, map 

23 reading, navigation, and permits. 

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

25 HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIODS.—During the 120- 


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1 hour probationary period under paragraph (1) and 

2 the 280-hour probationary period under paragraph 

3 (2)— 

4 (A) the apprentice may only drive a com5 mercial motor vehicle that has— 

6 (i) automatic manual or automatic 

7 transmissions; 

8 (ii) active braking collision mitigation 

9 systems; 

10 (iii) forward-facing video event cap11 ture; and 

12 (iv) governed speeds of 65 miles per 

13 hour at the pedal and 65 miles per hour 

14 under adaptive cruise control; and 

15 (B) the apprentice shall be accompanied in 

16 the cab of the commercial motor vehicle by an 

17 experienced driver. 

18 (4) RECORDS RETENTION.—The employer shall 

19 maintain records, in a manner required by the Sec20 retary, relating to the satisfaction of the require21 ments of paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) by the ap22 prentice. 

23 (5) REPORTABLE INCIDENTS.—If the appren24 tice is involved in a preventable accident reportable 

25 to the Department of Transportation or a pointed 


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1 moving violation while driving a commercial motor 

2 vehicle as part of an apprenticeship program de3 scribed in this subsection, the apprentice shall un4 dergo remediation and additional training until the 

5 apprentice can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 

6 the employer, competence in each of the performance 

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

8 (2)(B). 

9 (6) COMPLETION OF PROGRAM.—The appren10 tice shall be considered to have completed the ap11 prenticeship program on the date on which the ap12 prentice completes the 280-hour probationary period 

13 under paragraph (2). 

14 (7) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

16 prevents an employer from imposing additional 

17 requirements on an apprentice taking part in 

18 an apprenticeship program established pursuant 

19 to this section. 

20 (B) TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act 

21 prevents an employer from requiring or install22 ing additional technologies in a commercial 

23 motor vehicle in addition to the technologies de24 scribed in paragraph (3)(A). 


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

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul3 gate regulations to implement this Act. 

4 (e) NO EFFECT ON LICENSE REQUIREMENT.—Noth5 ing in this Act exempts an apprentice from any require6 ment to hold a commercial driver’s license in order to op7 erate a commercial motor vehicle. 

Æ 


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