SAFE Act

This bill directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to study chameleon carriers, trucking companies that change identities to evade safety rules, and to build an automated tool to detect them during registration. It also requires a report from the Government Accountability Office on the problem.

Sec. 2, Report on chameleon carriers: Within one year, the Comptroller General must send Congress a study on chameleon carriers. The report must estimate their number, fatalities, serious injuries, and property damage since 2012; analyze how they evade enforcement; review current detection capabilities and penalties; and include legislative recommendations. The Comptroller General may work with other agencies, states, schools, and private groups.

Sec. 3, Advanced automation tool: Within one year, the FMCSA Administrator must build and test a tool to help staff spot chameleon carrier applications for DOT numbers. The tool must detect signs like shared ownership, addresses, equipment, or insurance lapses; compile evidence; support decisions (but not make final ones); and automate data sharing with agencies like Treasury, Justice, and Homeland Security. The Administrator must create an appeals process for denied applicants, who get 30 days to fix their application. A briefing to Congress is due in 30 days. The tool cannot make final automated decisions. Data privacy is required. Within two years of the tool's launch, the DOT inspector general must audit its effectiveness and report on outcomes like flagged applications and crash reductions.

Sec. 4, Definition of chameleon carrier: The term means a motor carrier, broker, or freight forwarder that operates under a new identity to avoid FMCSA orders, regulations, penalties, enforcement, negative safety history, higher insurance costs, or to reincorporate after insurance denial due to safety or compliance issues.