Sponsors
The bill makes it easier for state-licensed local drivers and state agencies to treat certain port-origin runs as intrastate, reducing local compliance burdens but creating regulatory fragmentation that may raise costs and safety risks for cross‑border and long‑haul freight.
State-licensed local drivers operating runs from a port within the same State can avoid federal interstate CDL classification, reducing paperwork and regulatory burden for those drivers and local carriers.
State motor vehicle agencies gain clearer authority to apply intrastate licensing rules to port-origin runs, reducing regulatory uncertainty for state governments and local regulators.
Drivers of long‑haul or international-origin freight and the traveling public face increased safety risk if varied state CDL standards replace uniform federal standards for certain port-origin runs.
Commercial drivers and state regulators may lose uniform federal CDL protections and standardization, producing a patchwork of rules that complicates interstate enforcement and oversight.
Shippers and carriers that operate near state lines or move freight across borders could face inconsistent licensing requirements and higher administrative compliance costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats port-origin freight that remains within a single State as intrastate for federal CDL rules, so those specific moves are not considered interstate transportation for CDL requirements.
Introduced December 12, 2025 by Brian Jeffrey Mast · Last progress December 12, 2025
Removes a federal commercial driver’s license (CDL) interstate-transport classification for moves that start outside a state or the U.S. but end at an in-state destination when the trip begins at a port of entry. In practice, trucks carrying goods from a port into another place within the same state would not be treated as "interstate transportation" for CDL rules under federal law. The change is limited to the definition used for federal CDL requirements and does not itself change state driver licensing, training, or other safety rules, nor does it provide additional funding or program authorizations.