HR 5337119th CongressIntroduced

Motor Carrier Safety Selection Standard Act of 2024

Introduced: Sep 11, 2025

Infrastructure

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Motor Carrier Safety Selection Standard Act of 2024 establishes a national standard of care for negligent selection of motor carriers by certain intermediaries that contract for the shipment of goods or household goods. Under the bill, a “covered entity” (such as shippers, brokers, freight forwarders, ocean intermediaries, certain indirect air carriers, customs brokers, and motor carriers themselves) would be considered reasonable and prudent in its selection of a “covered motor carrier” only if, by shipment time and not more than 45 days before, it verifies three things: (1) the carrier is properly registered with FMCSA, (2) the carrier has the required insurance, and (3) FMCSA has confirmed the carrier is in compliance with safety standards. The public FMCSA confirmation would provide one of two statements about the carrier’s fitness. The act also directs FMCSA to update its safety-fitness rulemaking to determine carrier fitness using all available data and to establish a process for not-fit determinations. An exemption is provided for individual shippers, who would not have to satisfy these verification requirements. The measure is temporary until the safety-fitness regulations are issued, and it does not preempt state drayage laws. The bill defines key terms and sets scope for who is covered.

Key Points

1Establishes a national motor carrier safety selection standard of care for negligent selection claims: a covered entity must verify carrier registration, insurance, and FMCSA safety compliance by shipment time (no earlier than 45 days before shipment).
2Public FMCSA confirmation requirement: carriers must be publicly confirmed by FMCSA as meeting operating requirements; confirmations come with one of two statements about the carrier’s fitness.
3Safety-fitness rulemaking: FMCSA must issue final regulations within 1 year to revise the safety-fitness determination methodology, consider all data, and create procedures to identify unfit carriers, while ensuring the requirements in the selection standard are incorporated.
4Sunset clause: The selection standard’s verification requirements terminate on the effective date of the new FMCSA regulations implementing the safety-fitness methodology.
5Exemption for individual shippers: Individual shippers contracting with a covered motor carrier are exempt from the verification requirements.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Covered entities (shippers, brokers, freight forwarders, ocean intermediaries, certain indirect air carriers, customs brokers, and motor carriers) that contract with covered motor carriers for transport of goods or household goods. They would bear new due-diligence obligations to verify registration, insurance, and FMCSA safety compliance before shipment.Secondary group/area affected: Covered motor carriers (and household goods motor carriers) subject to the verification and public confirmation process, with potential implications for their perceived eligibility to operate if not FMCSA-confirmed.Additional impacts:- Individual shippers: Exempt from these requirements, reducing compliance burden for private shippers acting alone.- Regulated industry dynamics: Could influence insurance pricing, carrier selection practices, and liability exposure in negligent-selection claims.- State law considerations: Savings clause preserves existing state drayage laws; potential interactions with state regulatory regimes.- FMCSA rulemaking and enforcement: Increases focus on data-driven safety determinations and the public-confirmation process, as well as updating Appendix B to Part 385 (safety fitness) to reflect new methodology.

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