[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7457 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7457
To establish a national motor carrier safety selection standard for
entities that contract with certain motor carriers to transport goods,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 1, 2020
Mr. Gibbs (for himself and Mr. Cuellar) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a national motor carrier safety selection standard for
entities that contract with certain motor carriers to transport goods,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Motor Carrier Safety Selection
Standard Act''.
SEC. 2. MOTOR CARRIER SELECTION STANDARD OF CARE.
(a) In General.--
(1) Selection standard.--For any applicable legal
requirement with respect to a covered entity contracting with a
covered motor carrier for the shipment of goods or household
goods, the covered entity shall be considered reasonable and
prudent in the selection of such motor carrier if the covered
entity verifies, not later than the date of shipment and not
earlier than 45 days before the date of shipment, that the
covered motor carrier--
(A) is registered under section 13902 of title 49,
United States Code, as a motor carrier or household
goods motor carrier;
(B) has at least the minimum insurance coverage
required by Federal and State law; and
(C) is not determined unfit to operate safely
commercial motor vehicles under section 31144 of title
49, United States Code, or otherwise ordered to
discontinue operations by the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration (including not renewing a
Department of Transportation registration number) or a
State.
(2) Sunset.--The standard established under paragraph (1)
shall sunset on the effective date of a regulation issued
pursuant to subsection (c).
(b) Revocation of Registration.--Section 31144(a) of title 49,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking ``and'';
(2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and inserting
``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) prescribe by regulation a process for revoking the
registration of an owner or operator determined unfit to
operate safely a commercial motor vehicle under this
section.''.
(c) Rulemaking.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
(A) update and revise the regulations issued
pursuant to subsection (b) of section 31144 to include
the requirements of subsection (a); and
(B) issue such regulations as are necessary to
carry out section 31144(a)(5), as added by this Act.
(2) Factors for an unsatisfactory rating.--The regulations
updated under paragraph (1)(A) shall provide a procedure for
the Secretary to determine if a motor carrier is not fit to
operate a commercial motor vehicle in or affecting interstate
commerce in accordance with such section.
(d) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
preempt or supercede any State law or regulation relating to drayage.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a
person acting as--
(A) a shipper or cosignee of goods, except that
such term does not mean a person acting as an
individual shipper (as such term is defined in section
13103 of title 49, United States Code);
(B) a broker, a freight forwarder, or a household
goods freight forwarder (as such terms are defined in
section 13102 of title 49, United States Code);
(C) an ocean transportation intermediary (as such
term is defined in section 40102 of title 46, United
States Code), when arranging for inland transportation
as part of an international through movement involving
ocean transportation between the United States and a
foreign port;
(D) an indirect air carrier holding a Standard
Security Program approved by the Transportation
Security Administration, only to the extent that the
indirect air carrier is engaging in the activities as
an air carrier as defined in section 40102(2) or in the
activities defined in section 40102(3);
(E) a customs broker licensed in accordance with
section 111.2 of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations,
only to the extent that the customs broker is engaging
in a movement under a customs bond or in a transaction
involving customs business, as defined by section 111.1
of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations; or
(F) a motor carrier registered under chapter 139 of
title 49, United States Code.
(2) Covered motor carrier.--The term ``covered motor
carrier'' means a motor carrier or a household goods motor
carrier (as such terms are defined in section 13102 of title
49, United States Code) that is subject to Federal motor
carrier financial responsibility and safety regulations.
(3) Household goods.--The term ``household goods'' has the
meaning given the term in section 13102 of title 49, United
States Code.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
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