Why It Matters
Congress needs to address several trucking safety and regulatory issues before the September 30 surface transportation authorization expires, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on surface transportation reauthorization by John Frittelli, Specialist in Transportation Policy.
For example, hazmat highway incidents have surged 62 percent since 2015, climbing from 15,130 to 24,557 incidents, even as injury counts fell from 157 to 37. Another issue is the federal minimum insurance requirement for trucking. It was set in 1980 at $750,000 and has not been updated since then. Also, warehouse detention time, defined as more than two hours, counts toward drivers' 14-hour daily duty limit, but not their 11-hour driving limit, effectively squeezing productive hours.
The Trump administration canceled the long-pending heavy-truck speed limiter proposal in June 2025. It has also supported legislation like the Modern Worker Empowerment Act (H.R. 1319) to reinforce the independent contractor classification for truck drivers.
The Big Picture
Congress directed the creation of a truck leasing task force through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to examine lease-purchase agreements between carriers and drivers. The task force findings reflected concerns that a truck driver involved in this type of agreement might encounter circumstances that could lead to safety lapses in the truck's repair and maintenance and in the judgment of the driver, who may be under financial stress from working toward ownership of the vehicle. In January 2025, the task force recommended that Congress outlaw lease-purchase arrangements.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed a three-year pilot program in September 2025 allowing approximately 256 drivers to extend their 14-hour duty window by up to three hours to offset detention impacts. MIT researcher David Correll separately proposed a restaurant-style public rating system for warehouse facilities to create market pressure for improvement.
On broker transparency, FMCSA received nearly 7,000 comments on a proposed rule issued February 18, 2025, that would require brokers to maintain transaction records electronically and make them available to truckers upon request. The rule stems from a mandate in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) that FMCSA has yet to finalize.
Third-party litigation financing, where outside investors fund lawsuits in exchange for a share of the payout, contributes to rising insurance premiums in the trucking industry, and news reports have described this as contributing to a near breakdown of the liability insurance market, with some insurers withdrawing from U.S. states. FMCSA issued a report to Congress in January 2026 on insurance adequacy, but the $750,000 minimum requirement remains unchanged.
A new trend called strategic cargo theft involves criminal networks that hack shipping communications and pose as legitimate carriers to steal high-value goods, often operating from overseas. The Department of Transportation published a Request for Information on cargo theft in September 2025. FMCSA launched a new carrier registration system called Motus in 2026 using facial recognition and Login.gov identity verification to improve screening.
The Bottom Line
Congressional recommendations to ban lease-purchase arrangements and tighten broker transparency clash with the Trump administration's deregulatory posture and its embrace of the independent contractor model through support for legislation like the Modern Worker Empowerment Act.
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