House highway bill retains provision potentially harmful for small carriers, keeps under-21 CDL holder program

Update: The House passed the STRR long-term highway funding act late-morning Nov. 4. Click here to coverage. 

A fix to a measure in the House’s long-term highway bill, which as-is could be harmful to independent truckers and small trucking companies, was pulled from the House floor late Wednesday afternoon.

After offering an amendment on the matter to the House’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act, Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) withdrew his change to the highway bill before lawmakers could vote on whether to attach it the bill.

Duncan’s amendment would have clarified the portion of the bill that sets “interim hiring standards” for carriers, coming in part due to Congress’ attempts in this legislation and other bills to strip data and carrier rankings in the DOT’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability system from public view.

The bill puts in place three criteria brokers and shippers should use when making determinations in hiring a motor carrier. One of the criterium, however, would exclude nearly half a million trucking companies, a large chunk of which are independent owner-operators and other small carriers. Duncan’s amendment sought to fix the exclusionary language.

The change, however, could still be added later in the legislative process, like when the House and Senate confer on their two similar — but in whole, quite different — long-term highway funding acts.

The House is in the midst this week of hearing and voting on nearly 300 amendments to its STRR bill. House leaders have said the hope to finish the amendment process by week’s end.