II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1739 

To increase the minimum levels of financial responsibility for transporting 

property, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2015 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To increase the minimum levels of financial responsibility 

for transporting property, 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 ‘‘Truck Safety Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. MINIMUM AMOUNTS. 

6 (a) TRANSPORTING PROPERTY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 31139(b) of title 49, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking 

10 ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,500,000’’; and 


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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(3) The minimum level of financial responsi3 bility under paragraph (2) shall be adjusted annually 

4 by the Secretary to reflect changes in the Consumer 

5 Price Index—All Urban Consumers.’’. 

6 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

7 by paragraph (1) shall take effect 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (b) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Transportation, 

10 by regulation, shall increase any minimum level of finan11 cial responsibility required under section 31138 or section 

12 31139 if, after an opportunity for notice and comment, 

13 the Secretary determines that the current amount is insuf14 ficient to satisfy liability amounts covering the claims de15 scribed in section 31138 or section 31139, as applicable. 

16 SEC. 3. COLLISION AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans19 portation shall initiate a rulemaking to establish a Federal 

20 motor vehicle safety standard requiring a motor vehicle 

21 with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 26,000 

22 pounds be equipped with crash avoidance and mitigation 

23 systems, such as forward collision warning systems, for24 ward collision automatic braking systems, and lane depar25 ture warning systems. 


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1 (b) PERFORMANCE AND STANDARDS.—The regula2 tions prescribed under subsection (a) shall establish per3 formance requirements and standards to prevent collisions 

4 with moving vehicles and stopped vehicles. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary shall issue a 

6 final rule not later than 2 years after the date of enact7 ment of this Act, and the regulations prescribed by the 

8 Secretary under this section shall take effect 2 years after 

9 the date of publication of the final rule. 

10 SEC. 4. SPEED LIMITING DEVICES. 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall finalize 

13 regulations to require a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle 

14 weight rating greater than 26,000 pounds to be equipped 

15 with an electronic control module requiring the speed to 

16 be set at no more than 70 miles per hour by the manufac17 turer. 

18 SEC. 5. HIGH-RISK CARRIER COMPLIANCE REVIEWS. 

19 (a) HIGH-RISK CARRIER COMPLIANCE REVIEWS.— 

20 Section 31104(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘From the 

22 funds authorized by this subsection, the Secretary shall 

23 ensure that a review is completed on each motor carrier 

24 that demonstrates through performance data that it poses 

25 the highest safety risk. At a minimum, a review shall be 


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1 conducted whenever a motor carrier is among the highest 

2 risk carriers for 2 consecutive months.’’. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 

5 shall transmit to Congress a report on the actions the Sec6 retary has taken to comply with the review requirement 

7 under section 31104(b) of title 49, United States Code, 

8 as amended, including the number of high-risk motor car9 riers identified and the high-risk motor carriers reviewed. 

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4138 of the 

11 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Eq12 uity Act: A Legacy for Users (49 U.S.C. 31144 note) is 

13 repealed. 

14 SEC. 6. DRIVER COMPENSATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 311 of title 49, United 

16 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 31139 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 31140. Driver compensation 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

20 by regulation shall require that a motor carrier— 

21 ‘‘(1) track the on-duty (not driving) time of an 

22 employee whose base compensation is calculated in a 

23 manner other than an hourly wage and who is re24 quired to keep a record of duty status under the 


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1 hours of service regulations prescribed by the Sec2 retary; and 

3 ‘‘(2) separately compensate the employee for 

4 any on-duty (not driving) time period at an hourly 

5 rate not less than the Federal minimum wage rate 

6 under section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

7 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206). 

8 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—This section shall not apply to an 

9 employee whose employment is governed by a collective 

10 bargaining agreement, negotiated by employee representa11 tives certified as bona fide by the National Labor Rela12 tions Board, if the agreement governs, and compensates 

13 the employee for all hours of on-duty (not driving) time. 

14 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion or regulations adopted under this section shall affect 

16 an employer’s obligations under the Fair Labor Standards 

17 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). Compensation of em18 ployees under this section and regulations promulgated 

19 under this section shall be in addition to other compensa20 tion calculated for purposes of determining compliance 

21 with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

22 201 et seq.).’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con24 tents of chapter 311 of title 49, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 31139 the following: 

‘‘31140. Driver compensation.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. STUDY ON COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER 

4 COMMUTING. 

5 (a) EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE COMMUTING.—The Ad6 ministrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminis7 tration shall conduct a study of the effects of excessive 

8 commuting on safety and commercial motor vehicle driver 

9 fatigue. 

10 (b) STUDY.—In conducting the study, the Adminis11 trator shall consider— 

12 (1) the prevalence of excessive driver com13 muting in the commercial motor vehicle industry, in14 cluding the number and percentage of drivers who 

15 commute; 

16 (2) the distances traveled, time zones crossed, 

17 time spent commuting, and methods of transpor18 tation used; 

19 (3) research on the impact of excessive com20 muting on safety and commercial motor vehicle driv21 er fatigue; 

22 (4) the commuting practices of commercial 

23 motor vehicle drivers and policies of motor carriers; 


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1 (5) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminis2 tration regulations, policies, and guidance regarding 

3 excessive driver commuting; and 

4 (6) any other matters the Administrator con5 siders appropriate. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub8 mit to Congress a report containing its findings under the 

9 study and any recommendations for regulatory or adminis10 trative action concerning excessive driver commuting. 

Æ 


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