112TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 756
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe standards for the
maximum number of hours that an operator of a commercial motor
vehicle may be reasonably detained by a shipper or receiver, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on ---------------------
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe standards
for the maximum number of hours that an operator
of a commercial motor vehicle may be reasonably detained
by a shipper or receiver, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. DETENTION OF OPERATORS OF COMMERCIAL
2 MOTOR VEHICLES BY SHIPPERS AND RECEIVERS.
4 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall
5 conduct a study on the detention of operators of commer-
cial motor vehicles by shippers and receivers before the
7 loading and unloading of such vehicles.
8 (b) ELEMENTS OF STUDY.—In conducting the study,
9 the Secretary shall assess—
10 (1) the average length of time that operators of
11 commercial motor vehicles are detained before the
12 loading and unloading of such vehicles;
13 (2) how such detentions impact such operators
14 under various compensation structures in the motor
15 carrier industry;
16 (3) the extent to which such detentions result
17 in violations of the Secretary’s regulations on max-
imum hours of service prescribed under section
19 31502 of title 49, United States Code; and
20 (4) the feasibility of tracking the causes of vio-
lations of such regulations.
22 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date
23 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to
24 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
25 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
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1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report
2 on the results of the study.
3 SEC. 2. RULEMAKING.
4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the
5 date of submission of the report under section 1, the Sec-
retary of Transportation shall prescribe, by regulation,
7 standards for the maximum number of hours that an oper-
ator of a commercial motor vehicle transporting property
9 in interstate commerce may be reasonably detained by a
10 shipper or receiver before the loading or unloading of the
11 vehicle, if the operator is not compensated for time de-
tained.
13 (b) CONTENTS.—As part of the rulemaking, the Sec-
retary shall—
15 (1) consider whether the effect on safety of un-
reasonable detention of operators of commercial
17 motor vehicles differs based on how an operator is
18 compensated;
19 (2) consider any correlation between unreason-
able detention time of such an operator and a viola-
tion of the Secretary’s regulations on maximum
22 hours of service prescribed under section 31502 of
23 title 49, United States Code;
24 (3) establish a process for an employer, shipper,
25 receiver, broker, or commercial motor vehicle oper-
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4
1 ator to report violations of the Secretary’s standards
2 on detention time, including by providing data con-
tained in an electronic on-board recorder or through
4 another mechanism authorized by the Secretary; and
5 (4) institute appropriate enforcement measures,
6 including penalties, for violations of the Secretary’s
7 standards on detention time.
8 SEC. 3. LOADING AND UNLOADING MOTOR VEHICLES.
9 (a) LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN DETENTIONS.—Sec-
tion 14103 of title 49, United States Code, is amended
11 by adding at the end the following:
12 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN DETENTIONS.—A
13 shipper or receiver may not detain a person who operates
14 a commercial motor vehicle transporting property in inter-
state commerce before the loading or unloading of such
16 vehicle without providing compensation for time detained
17 beyond the maximum number of hours that the Secretary
18 determines, by regulation, is reasonable.’’.
19 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 14905 of such title is
20 amended by striking ‘‘of subsection (a) or (b)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘of subsection (a), (b), or (c)’’.
22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
23 In this section, the following definitions apply:
24 (1) SHIPPER.—The term ‘‘shipper’’ means a
25 person who offers property for transportation sub-
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1 ject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter
2 135 of title 49, United States Code.
3 (2) RECEIVER.—The term ‘‘receiver’’ means a
4 person who accepts property for transportation sub-
ject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter
6 135 of such title.
7 (3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the
8 meaning such term has under section 31301 of such
9 title.
10 (4) BROKER.—The term ‘‘broker’’ has the
11 meaning such term has under section 13102 of such
12 title.
13 (5) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term
14 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ has the meaning such
15 term has under section 31101 of such title.
16 (6) INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘inter-
state commerce’’ has the meaning such term has
18 under section 390.5 of title 49, Code of Federal
19 Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of
20 this Act.
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