A coalition of mostly state trucking organizations is proposing a sweeping proposal aimed at eliminating what a statement from the group called "bad actors who exploit regulatory gaps, undermine safety, and create unfair competitive advantages in the commercial trucking industry."
The group released The Fight for Fairness and Safety: Paving the Way for a Trucking Resurgence Monday, saying it is meant to address areas in which "illegal operators undercut law-abiding businesses, endanger public safety, and damage the reputation and morale of America's professional truck drivers."
Created by a task force within the Trucking Association Executive Council (TAEC), the proposal addresses what the group said are seven major vulnerabilities that bad actors exploit. They include:
- CDL integrity – Closing loopholes in commercial driver licensing
- Motor Carrier Management Information System overhaul – Fixing America’s broken trucking safety data system
- Cross-border integrity – Assuring workforce integrity at our borders
- Non-domiciled CDL reform – Strengthening oversight and enforcement
- English language proficiency – Closing critical CDL safety gaps
- Combating trucking fraud – Addressing broker and carrier fraud schemes
- Electronic log integrity – Ending ELD manipulation and hours-of-service fraud
"America's trucking industry is built on the hard work of family-owned businesses, independent owner-operators, and professional drivers who play by the rules," said Mark Colson, president and CEO of the Alabama Trucking Association and TAEC Task Force Chair. "But bad actors and illegal operators who exploit loopholes in our regulatory systems are putting everyone at risk. This is unacceptable.
"We are focused on solutions and resolute on seeing them implemented. By doing so, we will save lives, save small businesses and set the table for a trucking resurgence in America."
According to a statement from the task force, this initiative comes as the trucking industry faces "daunting freight demand, frivolous attacks from plaintiff’s trial lawyers, and unfair competition from illegal operators who manipulate licensing systems, engage in freight fraud, tamper with safety records, and operate outside legal boundaries."
The action plan emphasizes that most of the solutions are immediately actionable and do not require long, drawn-out legislation or rule makings, said the task force statement. Most involve technology-driven solutions, including AI-powered data analysis to detect fraudulent patterns, integrated databases to prevent operator schemes, and enhanced verification systems to ensure regulatory compliance. These reforms would not create new burdens for legitimate operators but would leverage existing data more effectively to identify and eliminate bad actors, the group said.
