Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, July 30, 2025:
New legislation would establish national autonomous trucking framework
U.S. Rep. Vince Fong (R-California) last week introduced the AMERICA DRIVES Act, which would establish a national framework for autonomous vehicle (AV) trucking.
The AMERICA DRIVES Act, which stands for the "Autonomous Mobility Ensuring Regulation, Innovation, Commerce, and Advancement Driving Reliability in Vehicle Efficiency and Safety Act," aims to create a national standard for autonomous truck development and deployment to preempt state regulation of autonomous vehicles and prevent a patchwork of state-by-state regulations.
According to a press release from Fong’s office, there are currently 35 states that allow some form of autonomous truck testing or deployment, while others have imposed restrictive or conflicting regulations.
Notably the bill would allow commercial motor vehicles equipped with Level 4 or Level 5 automated driving system (ADS) to operate in interstate commerce without a human driver on board or a remote human operator. Both Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous vehicles are capable of operating fully autonomously.
The move follows legislators attempting to include somewhat similar federal preemption of state regulation of all manner of automated systems in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" budget legislation.
Rep. Fong's introduced legislation would also direct the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to update rules by 2027 for ADS-equipped vehicles, exempt fully autonomous trucks from human-specific requirements (such as hours of service and drug testing), prohibit regulations that uniquely burden ADS vehicles and more.
The bill would also codify that a flashing, cab-mounted warning beacon may be used instead of warning triangles for disabled commercial vehicles, aligning with a 2023 FMCSA exemption request that was denied in December 2024.
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where it would need to pass before moving to the full House.
[Related: Bill to ban driverless trucks vetoed in Colorado]
FTR: Trucking conditions strong in May
Market conditions for trucking companies in May were at their strongest since February 2022, according to the latest Trucking Conditions Index lookback from FTR Transportation Intelligence.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index for May rose to 3.56, up from April’s reading of -0.81, which was roughly in line with the two months prior.
While May’s TCI was strong it also probably was an outlier, the firm noted. The near-term outlook is for negative or near-neutral market conditions for carriers.
“The unusually robust TCI reading in May -- certainly by the standards of the past couple of years -- speaks more to the volatility of market conditions than it does improvement,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “The index’s largest positive factor was falling diesel prices, which was not the situation in June or July, of course. Nor do we expect May’s big improvement in freight volume to be sustained.”
Vise added that uncertainty around tariffs and other market impacts “make it difficult to get a firm read on the truck freight market’s trajectory. We still expect the start of a modestly more favorable market for carriers by early next year, but, frankly, we still see significant risks both to the upside and downside.”
FMCSA denies CDL school’s request for under-21 exemption
A Michigan CDL school’s request to allow truck driver trainees between the ages of 18 and 20 holding a “K” restricted commercial learners permit (CLP) issued by another state to attend its driver training facility has been denied.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said allowing the waiver “would disrupt and confuse each State’s use of the ‘K’ restriction.”
In its request, Bianco Trucking Services, doing business as CDL and Operator Training in Spalding, Michigan, petitioned FMCSA to allow under-21 drivers with a Wisconsin-issued CLP and a “K” restriction to attend its driving school. Bianco is a registered entry-level driver training provider listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry (TPR).
Under current regulations, drivers younger than 21 must drive intrastate only in their state of domicile.
[Related: Michigan CDL school petitions FMCSA for under-21 waiver]
