Why It Matters

Trucks carry approximately 65 percent of U.S. freight by weight and 75 percent by cargo value, making commercial trucking central to the nation's supply chains and economy. A Congressional Research Service report updated Sept. 11 examines commercial trucking policy questions Congress may address during surface transportation reauthorization, as current authorizations expire Sept. 30.

The Trump administration has aligned with trucking industry preferences on worker classification, adopting the first Trump administration's 2021 interpretation of independent-contractor status for drivers, while a Truck Leasing Task Force created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recommended in January 2025 that Congress prohibit lease-purchase agreements. The American Trucking Associations disputes the task force's recommendation on lease-purchase arrangements and backed the worker-classification approach at a May 2025 congressional hearing.

Hazardous materials highway incidents have increased substantially over the past decade, according to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration data, even as injuries associated with those incidents have declined.

The Big Picture

The report covers truck lease-purchase agreements, worker classification, detention time, broker transaction transparency, insurance costs, household-goods moving fraud, cargo theft and hazardous materials safety. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a February 2024 notice initiating data collection on detention time and later proposed a three-year pilot program that would allow participating drivers to extend their 14-hour driving window by up to three hours.

On broker transparency, the agency reviewed nearly 7,000 comments on its proposed rule, which would require brokers to maintain electronic transaction records and make them available to motor carriers upon request rather than automatically.

Federal minimum liability insurance for most interstate for-hire motor carriers transporting nonhazardous property has remained at $750,000 since 1980. H.R. 8218 would raise the minimum to $5 million, while H.R. 5423 would prohibit certain lease-purchase agreements. Congressional committees held two hearings and a roundtable on cargo theft in 2025, and the House passed H.R. 2853, legislation aimed at combating organized retail and supply chain crime.

The Bottom Line

With surface transportation authorizations scheduled to expire Sept. 30, Congress faces a range of commercial trucking policy decisions involving driver classification, lease-purchase agreements, cargo theft, insurance, detention time and hazardous materials safety.

Strategic cargo theft, including schemes in which criminals exploit electronic communications and pose as legitimate carriers to divert shipments, has increased concern about fraud within the freight system. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has also launched Motus, its new USDOT registration system, which uses Login.gov and identity verification as part of an effort to strengthen registration security and reduce fraud.

The CRS report also identifies consolidation of federal hazardous materials emergency-response training grant programs as one option Congress could consider to improve funding efficiency and reduce duplicative administrative requirements.

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