DRIVE-SAFE Act
Sponsored By: Representative Crawford
In Committee
Summary
Allows under‑21 commercial drivers to gain supervised interstate driving experience through a structured apprenticeship. The bill sets two probationary training phases, vehicle and tech requirements, supervision rules, and remediation after incidents to let younger drivers build experience while meeting safety benchmarks.
Show full summary
- Young drivers: Would let apprentices under 21 operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce after completing a two‑stage apprenticeship with a 120‑hour probationary period followed by a 280‑hour probationary period. Training covers interstate, city, rural, and evening driving plus skills like backing, inspections, and trip planning.
- Employers and supervisors: Requires employers to run the apprenticeship, keep records of benchmark compliance, and have apprentices accompanied in the cab by an experienced driver who is at least 26 and has held a commercial driver's license for 2 years.
- Safety and equipment: Probationary vehicles must have automatic or automatic‑manual transmissions, active braking collision mitigation, and forward‑facing video. Preventable accidents or pointed moving violations trigger remediation and additional training until competence is shown. Employers may add extra requirements or technology and the Secretary of Transportation must issue implementing regulations within one year.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Interstate trucking apprenticeships for under-21 drivers
If enacted, this bill would let some drivers under 21 with a CDL drive across state lines in an employer-run apprenticeship. Stage one would be 120 on-duty hours with at least 80 driving hours, and skill checks like city, rural, night driving, safety, turns, and hours-of-service logs. Stage two would be 280 on-duty hours with at least 160 driving hours, and more checks like backing, pre-trip inspections, fueling, weighing loads, coupling, and trip planning. During training, you could only use trucks with automatic or automatic-manual transmissions, active collision braking, and a forward-facing camera, and an experienced driver (age 26+, 2 years’ interstate experience, no recent reportable accidents or pointed violations) would ride in the cab. Employers would have to keep records and retrain after any reportable accident or pointed violation; DOT would issue rules within 1 year, CDL rules would still apply, and under-21 drivers could not drive interstate outside this program.
Free Policy Watch
You just read the policy. Now see what it costs you.
Pick a topic. PRIA runs your household against live legislation and sends you a free personalized readout.
Pick a topic to get started
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Crawford
AR • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2]
ME • D
Sponsored 9/26/2025
Westerman
AR • R
Sponsored 9/26/2025
Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]
CA • D
Sponsored 9/26/2025
LaHood
IL • R
Sponsored 9/26/2025
Perez
WA • D
Sponsored 9/26/2025
Rep. Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2]
IA • R
Sponsored 10/3/2025
Estes
KS • R
Sponsored 10/8/2025
Bost
IL • R
Sponsored 10/10/2025
Rep. Harris, Andy [R-MD-1]
MD • R
Sponsored 10/14/2025
Mann
KS • R
Sponsored 10/17/2025
Balderson
OH • R
Sponsored 10/17/2025
Rep. Gonzalez, Vicente [D-TX-34]
TX • D
Sponsored 10/24/2025
Rep. Harrigan, Pat [R-NC-10]
NC • R
Sponsored 10/31/2025
Rep. Guest, Michael [R-MS-3]
MS • R
Sponsored 10/31/2025
Loudermilk
GA • R
Sponsored 11/7/2025
Craig
MN • D
Sponsored 11/7/2025
Latta
OH • R
Sponsored 11/7/2025
Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-1]
AL • R
Sponsored 11/12/2025
Fitzgerald
WI • R
Sponsored 11/12/2025
Van Duyne
TX • R
Sponsored 11/17/2025
Guthrie
KY • R
Sponsored 11/18/2025
Womack
AR • R
Sponsored 12/2/2025
Rep. Taylor, David J. [R-OH-2]
OH • R
Sponsored 12/2/2025
Rogers (KY)
KY • R
Sponsored 12/3/2025
Timmons
SC • R
Sponsored 12/10/2025
Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4]
MS • R
Sponsored 2/9/2026
Donalds
FL • R
Sponsored 4/16/2026
Rep. Barrett, Tom [R-MI-7]
MI • R
Sponsored 4/28/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Take the PRIA Score to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in