English proficiency by rule, broker transparency at the White House, and Congress takes aim at chameleon carriers and staged crashes.
By David J. Jencks
Late summer brought no single blockbuster trucking rule, but it did bring a steady run of proposals, enforcement actions and new bills that carriers, brokers and the factors who finance them should be tracking. FMCSA wants to write English language proficiency out-of-service enforcement into its own regulations, a broker transparency proposal is at the White House, and Congress has new bills on chameleon carriers, staged accidents and state non-domiciled CDL programs. Here is a plain-language walk-through, as summarized in the August/September 2026 Regulatory and Legislative Update, with the deadlines and citations you need.
Regulation and enforcement
English proficiency: from CVSA policy to federal rule
FMCSA has proposed (NPRM) to write into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) a requirement that drivers who violate the English language proficiency (ELP) rule be placed out of service. Comments were due October 9 (federalregister.gov/d/2026-16288).
ELP violations are already out-of-service offenses, but only because the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) added them to its out-of-service criteria after the President’s April 28, 2025, executive order. That is CVSA policy, and CVSA has reversed itself before: in 2015 it dropped inadequate English skills as an out-of-service violation. Because states must keep laws compatible with the FMCSRs to stay eligible for MCSAP grants, a federal rule would bind the states regardless of what CVSA does later.
The proposal also narrows the border-zone exception. A driver whose trip stays within the U.S.-Mexico border commercial zones could still be cited, but would not be placed out of service or disqualified unless there is evidence of intended or past operation outside those zones. FMCSA says this closes a loophole and matches CVSA’s April 19, 2026, revision.
Broker transparency moves to OMB
The broker transparency rulemaking, the lone major trucking initiative from the Biden administration that the Trump administration kept, moved a small step forward in late August when FMCSA sent a supplemental NPRM to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The original November 2024 NPRM answered two petitions: one asked that brokers provide electronic copies of each transaction record within 48 hours and be barred from requiring carriers to waive access to those records; the other sought to bar contract waivers or other coercion used to avoid compliance. The supplemental proposal’s details will not be public until OMB finishes its review.
FMCSA’s regulatory agenda: ambitious on paper
FMCSA’s latest agenda promises NPRMs by year-end on better safety fitness assessment, up-front vetting of new entrants’ readiness to comply, and qualification standards for brokers and freight forwarders, plus proposals on automated driving systems, the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, ELDs, CDL standards, entry-level driver training and records preservation.
Skepticism is warranted. The new-entrant knowledge rulemaking has been on the docket since 2009, a decade after Congress mandated it in the 1999 law that created FMCSA. The unfit-carrier effort traces to a 2016 NPRM on SMS-based safety ratings that was withdrawn in 2017 (an advance NPRM followed in 2023). Broker and freight forwarder officer qualifications (three years’ experience or knowledge of the rules and industry practices) date to MAP-21 in 2012. With light regulatory activity and competing priorities like fixing the troubled Motus registration rollout, the update expects few, if any, of these to start this year. Search the agenda at reginfo.gov (under Department of Transportation).
Federal task force targets CDL schools
On August 31, DOT, DHS and DOJ announced a joint crackdown on fraudulent CDL training. DOT removed 110 CDL schools on an emergency basis that were associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed ELP assessments, and DOT and FMCSA are auditing third-party CDL skills testers and state oversight of them nationwide. DHS swept more than 200 schools in 23 states that same day, and DOJ formed the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio with state, local and federal partners.
HOS pilots, revoked ELDs and exemptions
HOS pilots. FMCSA finished pre-tests for its sleeper berth flexibility and split 14-hour window pilot programs and will refine them ahead of a 2027 launch: 256 drivers per pilot (512 total), four months of participation and up to $1,600 per driver. Interested drivers and carriers can contact pilots@dot.gov.
ELD revocations. On August 6, FMCSA removed five devices from the registered list for failing 49 CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A: Moonlight ELD (UZBUSA Inc.), HGRS ELD (HGRS), HIG4ES (Highest ELD), Truckford ELD (Truckford ELD) and Sparkle ELD (Spark Technologies Inc.). Carriers had to stop using them, run paper logs or logging software in the meantime, and replace them by October 6 (eld.fmcsa.dot.gov/List).
Exemptions. FMCSA denied CDL and ELD exemptions to Project GAP (Diamond Excursions Ladies Edition), a charitable food pantry and emergency supply group, because it did not show how its training compares to CDL standards or how it would ensure HOS compliance without an ELD, among other reasons (federalregister.gov/d/2026-14468). FMCSA also withdrew as moot Charles Machine Works’ request to renew its gravity- or siphon-fed fuel system exemption, since the February 19, 2026, auxiliary fuel tank final rule already provides that relief (federalregister.gov/d/2026-15431).
Legislation
Two approaches to chameleon carriers
“Chameleon carriers” are operations with poor safety records, or that FMCSA has shut down, that reappear under a new identity to avoid enforcement or wash a bad record.
- S. 5150 (Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Andy Kim, D-N.J.) calls for a GAO study, an FMCSA automated tool to flag suspect registration applications (with final calls left to agency staff), better federal-state information sharing and an appeals process for applicants wrongly flagged.
- H.R. 10237 (Reps. Dave Taylor, R-Ohio, and Shomari Figures, D-Ala.) affirms that a USDOT number must be active to operate, that FMCSA issues an active number only after all registration requirements are met, and that DOT may immediately inactivate the number of anyone without valid registration or who misses required periodic updates.
Auditing states’ non-domiciled CDLs
H.R. 10123 (Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.) would have FMCSA audit a random sample of non-domiciled CDLs in every state, focusing on licenses issued without legal-status verification or left active after that status expired. States would get 60 days to fix problems, the worst performers would face repeat audits, and states that refuse would lose FMCSA funding. It follows FMCSA’s final rule earlier this year sharply restricting non-domiciled CDL eligibility; drivers holding properly issued non-domiciled CDLs may keep operating until renewal (federalregister.gov/d/2026-02965).
Making staged crashes a federal crime
The update ties the rise in staged crashes to soaring jury verdicts and settlements.
- S. 5058 (Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.) would make intentionally staging a collision with a commercial motor vehicle a federal crime, with liability reaching attorneys, physicians and other professionals who knowingly participate.
- H.R. 10269 (Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.) covers staged accidents and fraudulent claims for any motor vehicle, including CMVs: a fine and up to 10 years, up to 20 years with serious bodily injury, and up to life if a death results.
DEF safe harbor and Freedom Haulers
H.R. 9618 (Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D.) would give EPA’s 2025–2026 guidance on engine shutdowns from faulty diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) sensors a 10-year statutory safe harbor, so it cannot simply be reversed by a future administration. It would also require future emissions standards to give at least three model years of applicability and five years’ lead time, and direct EPA to consider reducing unnecessary shutdowns and derates.
H.R. 10099 (Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla.) would codify the Freedom Haulers veteran CDL initiative, now only an administrative directive. It would extend the Military Skills Test Waiver window from 12 to 24 months after leaving service and make permanent the Even Exchange Program, which lets qualified veterans in 34 participating states skip the CDL knowledge exam.
Advocacy and comment: a summer of uncertainty
The update’s closing commentary describes a summer of uncertainty for the industry and those who represent it. Traditional principles of federal transportation law, including the filed rate doctrine, logo liability and the role of attorneys and licensed practitioners, have largely been set aside. Motus is a good idea, but it has not yet delivered on its goal of addressing carrier safety and bad actors: applicants report processing delays and little real help for small businesses, and third parties who assist them, attorneys included, must now register themselves. Small carriers and exempt farmers also face sharply higher diesel prices and trade friction with Canada.
The commentary’s core point is that nothing in Motus displaces administrative law or federal primacy over interstate shipments, and that no current proposal shows how the system will “catch the bad guys.” Broker embezzlement of freight charges is already prohibited by federal regulation and should be prosecuted by FMCSA and federal and state enforcement.
What this means for carriers, brokers and factors
- ELP enforcement is becoming permanent. A final rule would take out-of-service treatment out of CVSA’s hands and bind the states. Driver qualification stays an operational and credit issue.
- Brokers: watch the transparency rule. The petitions behind it seek 48-hour electronic access to transaction records and a ban on contract waivers. Be ready to review contracts and record practices once OMB releases the proposal.
- Chameleon bills are about vetting. Automated flagging (S. 5150) and immediate USDOT inactivation for invalid registration or missed updates (H.R. 10237) would both bear on onboarding by brokers and factors, and carrier clients should keep registration updates current.
- Staged-crash bills target claims fraud. S. 5058 and H.R. 10269 would add federal criminal exposure, including for professionals who knowingly take part, aimed at the claims risk the update ties to soaring verdicts.
- Treat the agenda as a watch list, not a calendar. Safety fitness, new-entrant and broker qualification rules are all listed, but few, if any, are expected this year.
This article is based on publicly available regulatory and legislative developments as of September 2026, as summarized in the August/September 2026 Regulatory and Legislative Update. It is general information, not legal advice; pending bills and proposed rules may change or never take effect.
This post is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
