I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8513 

To establish a standard for the reasonableness of motor carriers for the 

shipment of goods or household goods, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2020 

Mr. GIBBS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To establish a standard for the reasonableness of motor 

carriers for the shipment of goods or household goods, 

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 ‘‘CSA Reform Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE, SAFETY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY RE6 FORM. 

7 (a) MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY GRANTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (A) SELECTION STANDARD.—For any ap10 plicable legal requirement with respect to a covVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8513.IH H8513

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1 ered entity contracting with a covered motor 

2 carrier for the shipment of goods or household 

3 goods, the covered entity shall be considered 

4 reasonable and prudent in the selection of such 

5 motor carrier if the covered entity verifies, not 

6 later than the date of shipment and not earlier 

7 than 45 days before the date of shipment, that 

8 the covered motor carrier— 

9 (i) is registered under section 13902 

10 of title 49, United States Code, as a motor 

11 carrier or household goods motor carrier; 

12 (ii) has at least the minimum insur13 ance coverage required by Federal and 

14 State law; and 

15 (iii) is not determined unfit to operate 

16 safely commercial motor vehicles under 

17 section 31144 of title 49, United States 

18 Code, or otherwise ordered to discontinue 

19 operations by the Federal Motor Carrier 

20 Safety Administration (including not re21 newing a Department of Transportation 

22 registration number) or a State. 

23 (B) SUNSET.—The standard established 

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1 tive date of a regulation issued pursuant to sub2 section (c). 

3 (2) REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION.—Section 

4 31144(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amend5 ed— 

6 (A) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (4) by striking the period 

8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) prescribe by regulation a process for revok11 ing the registration of an owner or operator deter12 mined unfit to operate safely a commercial motor ve13 hicle under this section.’’. 

14 (3) RULEMAKING.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

16 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

17 the Secretary of Transportation shall— 

18 (i) update and revise the regulations 

19 issued pursuant to subsection (b) of sec20 tion 31144 of title 49, United States Code, 

21 to include the requirements of subsection 

22 (a); and 

23 (ii) issue such regulations as are nec24 essary to carry out section 31144(a)(5) of 


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1 title 49, United States Code, as added by 

2 this Act. 

3 (B) FACTORS FOR AN UNSATISFACTORY

4 RATING.—The regulations updated under para5 graph (1)(A) shall provide a procedure for the 

6 Secretary to determine if a motor carrier is not 

7 fit to operate a commercial motor vehicle in or 

8 affecting interstate commerce in accordance 

9 with section 31144 of title 49, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (4) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section 

12 shall be construed to preempt or supercede any 

13 State law or regulation relating to drayage. 

14 (5) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (A) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cov16 ered entity’’ means a person acting as— 

17 (i) a shipper or cosignee of goods, ex18 cept that such term does not mean a per19 son acting as an individual shipper (as 

20 such term is defined in section 13103 of 

21 title 49, United States Code); 

22 (ii) a broker, a freight forwarder, or a 

23 household goods freight forwarder (as such 

24 terms are defined in section 13102 of title 

25 49, United States Code); 


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1 (iii) an ocean transportation inter2 mediary (as such term is defined in section 

3 40102 of title 46, United States Code), 

4 when arranging for inland transportation 

5 as part of an international through move6 ment involving ocean transportation be7 tween the United States and a foreign 

8 port; 

9 (iv) an indirect air carrier holding a 

10 Standard Security Program approved by 

11 the Transportation Security Administra12 tion only to the extent that the indirect air 

13 carrier is engaging in the activities as an 

14 air carrier defined in paragraph (2) or (3) 

15 of section 40102 of title 49, United States 

16 Code; 

17 (v) a customs broker licensed in ac18 cordance with section 111.2 of title 19, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, only to the 

20 extent that the customs broker is engaging 

21 in a movement under a customs bond or in 

22 a transaction involving customs business, 

23 as defined by section 111.1 of title 19, 

24 Code of Federal Regulations; or 


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1 (vi) a motor carrier registered under 

2 chapter 139 of title 49, United States 

3 Code. 

4 (B) COVERED MOTOR CARRIER.—The term 

5 ‘‘covered motor carrier’’ means a motor carrier 

6 or a household goods motor carrier (as such 

7 terms are defined in section 13102 of title 49, 

8 United States Code) that is subject to Federal 

9 motor carrier financial responsibility and safety 

10 regulations. 

11 (C) HOUSEHOLD GOODS.—The term 

12 ‘‘household goods’’ has the meaning given such 

13 term in section 13102 of title 49, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

16 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

17 (b) REMOTE AUDIT.—Section 31144 of title 49, 

18 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(j) REMOTE AUDITS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab22 lish a pilot program to conduct remote compliance 

23 reviews under subpart A of part 385 of title 49, 

24 Code of Federal Regulations, to assign a safety rat25 ing for commercial motor carriers. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the pilot pro2 gram, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) use the same standards that would 

4 otherwise be applicable to commercial motor 

5 carriers; 

6 ‘‘(B) apply the procedures of part 385 of 

7 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, including 

8 the safety fitness rating methodology under ap9 pendix B, prior to assigning a safety rating 

10 under such pilot program; 

11 ‘‘(C) assign safety ratings regardless of 

12 whether an on-site review of activities has taken 

13 place; and 

14 ‘‘(D) leverage all available technology to 

15 access information and records. 

16 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Motor carriers that 

18 are eligible to participate in the pilot program 

19 under this subsection shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) voluntarily agree to participate in 

21 such pilot program; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) be able to opt-out of participa23 tion at any time. 

24 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION.— 

25 Motor carriers that transport hazardous mateVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8513.IH H8513

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1 rials or passengers shall be prohibited from par2 ticipating in the pilot program under this sec3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZED AGENTS.—Remote compli5 ance reviews conducted under the pilot program 

6 under this section may be conducted by— 

7 ‘‘(A) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin8 istration personnel; 

9 ‘‘(B) State commercial motor vehicle au10 thorities that meet acceptable standards set 

11 forth by the Secretary; or 

12 ‘‘(C) private contractors that meet accept13 able standards set forth by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF SAFETY RATINGS.— 

15 Safety ratings determined under the pilot program 

16 under this subsection may not be released publicly 

17 by the Secretary or by any authorized agent de18 scribed in paragraph (4) that is participating in the 

19 pilot program under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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