The U.S. Senate passed by an 83-16 vote late Thursday, Dec. 3, the five-year, $305 billion FAST Act surface transportation funding bill, meaning the legislation is only President Obama’s signature shy of being enacted. The bill includes a number of trucking regulatory reforms, and it will, upon enactment, remove carrier rankings in the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program from public view.
The bill also expands driver drug testing options and tries to institute measures to increase transparency in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rulemaking process. For more on the trucking-relevant topics in the FAST Act, see CCJ’s in-depth report here.
The House passed the bill earlier Thursday, also by a big majority, 359-65. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said earlier this week President Obama intends to sign the bill. This is the longest highway bill Congress has passed in more than a decade. Trucking industry advocacy and lobbying groups voiced their general support for the bill earlier this week, too.
