U.S. Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., introduced legislation Tuesday targeting trucking companies that reopen under new identities. The bipartisan Safety and Accountability in Freight Enforcement Act aims to stop operators from escaping enforcement through fresh registrations. Sponsors call those businesses “chameleon carriers.” The proposal now awaits Senate committee action.
The bill focuses on companies that close after safety violations, penalties, insurance problems, or enforcement actions. Those operators can later seek another USDOT number under a different business structure. Lawmakers want FMCSA to identify those connections before approving registration applications. The measure also covers brokers, freight forwarders, and intermodal equipment providers.
FMCSA would screen for identity links
The SAFE Act directs FMCSA to develop and test an automated screening tool. Agency personnel would use that system during the USDOT registration process. Final decisions would remain with FMCSA employees, not automation. Applicants could appeal an incorrect flag and receive a review after correcting their submission.
The tool would look for common ownership, managers, drivers, equipment, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and operating facilities. It would also examine insurance continuity, lapsed coverage, transferred assets, inactive USDOT numbers, and company formation dates. Those details could show whether a new applicant continues a previous operation. FMCSA could use the findings when deciding whether to approve registration.
Young framed the proposal as a road-safety measure. “When unsafe trucking companies evade enforcement by reopening under a new identity, everyone who shares the road” faces risk, Young stated. Kim described the legislation as a way to address operators who skirt regulations. He stated that those actions “can cost people’s lives.”
Study would measure the problem
The SAFE Act would require the Government Accountability Office to study the scope of chameleon carriers nationwide. That report would estimate their prevalence, related fatalities, serious injuries, property damage, and enforcement methods. GAO would also review federal monitoring weaknesses and recommend improvements. Congress would receive the findings within one year after enactment.
FMCSA could share information with agencies including the Justice Department, Treasury Department, Homeland Security, Postal Service, and state partners. The bill requires data privacy protections during that work. DOT’s inspector general would audit the tool two years after implementation. That audit would measure flagged applications, rejected registrations, errors, redeterminations, and severe-crash reductions.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the Senate legislation. OOIDA President Todd Spencer called it a way to “identify and weed out bad actors” before they become chameleon carriers. The American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association, National Tank Truck Carriers, and Indiana Motor Truck Association also endorsed the proposal. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., introduced the House version earlier this year.
Why it matters
Bad actors can exploit weak registration checks to return with a clean-looking identity. The SAFE Act would place greater attention on ownership, contact information, equipment, insurance, and operational links before FMCSA issues a USDOT number.
Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phil Brink.
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