§31106 — Title 49 Transportation | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must build and run computer systems that collect and analyze data about motor carriers, commercial vehicles, and drivers to help keep roads safe. Those systems must work with State systems so carriers and drivers can be accurately identified, vehicle registrations and licenses tracked, and safety records shared. The Secretary must use the data to find and gather needed information, judge a carrier’s or driver’s safety, make and test safety plans, check the cost-effectiveness of programs, improve or add other information systems, keep data complete and accurate, set up a way to correct wrong records, and find people or companies related by ownership, management, control, or family ties. The Secretary must set standards so all participants collect and report information the same way and make the data reliable and available. The program includes a clearinghouse that links Federal and State registration and licensing records so States can check safety before or during registration and deny, suspend, or cancel registrations for carriers under an out-of-service order. States must follow the rules, have authority to act on Federal safety findings for a reasonable time, and have processes to cancel or seize plates when an employer knowingly let someone drive despite an out-of-service order, and to restore them if allowed. A driver safety program will improve sharing of license data (including with foreign countries), give useful information to courts, study driver performance, and create countermeasures. States getting grants may have to give the Secretary electronic access to licensing and driver history records, subject to 18 U.S.C. 2721. The Secretary may work with other agencies or groups and must have a policy on sharing data that follows Federal information laws and lets people fix errors. Even if some rules normally bar release (for example, in 31105(h), 31143(b), or 5 U.S.C. 552a), the Secretary may share information with authorized State or local safety or licensing personnel under conditions the Secretary sets; that sharing does not waive legal privileges or make the records subject to 5 U.S.C. 552.

Title 49, §31106

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(a)(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall establish and operate motor carrier, commercial motor vehicle, and driver information systems and data analysis programs to support safety regulatory and enforcement activities required under this title.

(2)In cooperation with the States, the information systems under this section shall be coordinated into a network providing accurate identification of motor carriers and drivers, commercial motor vehicle registration and license tracking, and motor carrier, commercial motor vehicle, and driver safety performance data.

(3)The Secretary shall develop and maintain under this section data analysis capacity and programs that provide the means to—

(A)identify and collect necessary motor carrier, commercial motor vehicle, and driver data;

(B)evaluate the safety fitness of motor carriers and drivers;

(C)develop strategies to mitigate safety problems and to use data analysis to address and measure the effectiveness of such strategies and related programs;

(D)determine the cost-effectiveness of Federal and State safety compliance and enforcement programs and other countermeasures;

(E)adapt, improve, and incorporate other information and information systems as the Secretary determines appropriate;

(F)ensure, to the maximum extent practical, all the data is complete, timely, and accurate across all information systems and initiatives;

(G)establish and implement a national motor carrier safety data correction system; and

(H)determine whether a person or employer is or was related, through common ownership, common management, common control, or common familial relationship, to any other person, employer, or any other applicant for registration under section 13902 or 31134.

(4)To implement this section, the Secretary shall prescribe technical and operational standards to ensure—

(A)uniform, timely, and accurate information collection and reporting by the States and other entities as determined appropriate by the Secretary;

(B)uniform Federal, State, and local policies and procedures necessary to operate the information system; and

(C)the reliability and availability of the information to the Secretary and States.

(b)(1)The Secretary shall include, as part of the motor carrier information system authorized by this section, a program to establish and maintain a clearinghouse and repository of information related to State registration and licensing of commercial motor vehicles, the registrants of such vehicles, and the motor carriers operating such vehicles. The clearinghouse and repository may include information on the safety fitness of each of the motor carriers and registrants and other information the Secretary considers appropriate, including information on motor carrier, commercial motor vehicle, and driver safety performance.

(2)The program shall link Federal motor carrier safety information systems with State commercial vehicle registration and licensing systems and shall be designed to enable a State to—

(A)determine the safety fitness of a motor carrier or registrant when licensing or registering the registrant or motor carrier or while the license or registration is in effect; and

(B)deny, suspend, or revoke the commercial motor vehicle registrations of a motor carrier or registrant that has been issued an operations out-of-service order by the Secretary.

(3)The Secretary shall require States, as a condition of participation in the program, to—

(A)comply with the uniform policies, procedures, and technical and operational standards prescribed by the Secretary under subsection (a)(4);

(B)possess or seek the authority to possess for a time period no longer than determined reasonable by the Secretary, to impose sanctions relating to commercial motor vehicle registration on the basis of a Federal safety fitness determination; and

(C)establish and implement a process—

(i)to cancel the motor vehicle registration and seize the registration plates of a vehicle when an employer is found liable under section 31310(i)(2)(C) for knowingly allowing or requiring an employee to operate such a commercial motor vehicle in violation of an out-of-service order; and

(ii)to reinstate the vehicle registration or return the registration plates of the commercial motor vehicle, subject to sanctions under clause (i), if the Secretary permits such carrier to resume operations after the date of issuance of such order.

(c)(1)In coordination with the information system under section 31309, the Secretary is authorized to establish a program to improve commercial motor vehicle driver safety. The objectives of the program shall include—

(A)enhancing the exchange of driver licensing information among the States, the Federal Government, and foreign countries;

(B)providing information to the judicial system on commercial motor vehicle drivers;

(C)evaluating any aspect of driver performance that the Secretary determines appropriate; and

(D)developing appropriate strategies and countermeasures to improve driver safety.

(2)The Secretary may require a State, as a condition of an award of grant money under this section, to provide the Secretary access to all State licensing status and driver history records via an electronic information system, subject to section 2721 of title 18.

(d)The Secretary may carry out this section either independently or in cooperation with other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, or by making grants to, and entering into contracts and cooperative agreements with, States, local governments, associations, institutions, corporations, and other persons.

(e)(1)The Secretary shall develop a policy on making information available from the information systems authorized by this section and section 31309. The policy shall be consistent with existing Federal information laws, including regulations, and shall provide for review and correction of such information in a timely manner.

(2)Notwithstanding any prohibition on disclosure of information in section 31105(h) or 31143(b) of this title or section 552a of title 5, the Secretary may disclose information maintained by the Secretary pursuant to chapters 51, 135, 311, or 313 of this title to appropriate personnel of a State agency or instrumentality authorized to carry out State commercial motor vehicle safety activities and commercial driver’s license laws, or appropriate personnel of a local law enforcement agency, in accordance with standards, conditions, and procedures as determined by the Secretary. Disclosure under this section shall not operate as a waiver by the Secretary of any applicable privilege against disclosure under common law or as a basis for compelling disclosure under section 552 of title 5.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 31106(a)49 App.:2306(f).Jan. 6, 1983, Pub. L. 97–424, 96 Stat. 2155, § 407; added Dec. 18, 1991, Pub. L. 102–240, § 4003, 105 Stat. 2144. 31106(b)49 App.:2306(a) (2)–(5). 31106(c)49 App.:2306(b). 31106(d)49 App.:2306(a)(1). 31106(e)49 App.:2306(c). 31106(f)49 App.:2306(d). 31106(g)49 App.:2306(e). In subsection (b)(2), the word “schedule” is substituted for “system” for clarity.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–94, § 5102, substituted “Systems Management” for “Program” in heading. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 114–94, § 5101(e)(2), struck out par. (4). Text read as follows: “From the funds authorized by section 31104(i), the Secretary may make a grant in a fiscal year to a State to implement the performance and registration information system management requirements of this subsection.” 2012—Subsec. (a)(3)(H). Pub. L. 112–141, § 32103(b), added subpar. (H). Subsec. (b)(3)(C). Pub. L. 112–141, § 32602, amended subpar. (C) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (C) read as follows: “establish and implement a process to cancel the motor vehicle registration and seize the registration plates of a vehicle when an employer is found liable under section 31310(i)(2)(C) for knowingly allowing or requiring an employee to operate such a commercial motor vehicle in violation of an out-of-service order.” Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 112–141, § 32306, struck out subsec. heading “Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety Program”, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted par. heading, redesignated former pars. (1) to (4) as subpars. (A) to (D), respectively, of par. (1), and added par. (2). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 112–141, § 32508, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). 2005—Subsec. (a)(3)(F), (G). Pub. L. 109–59, § 4108(a), added subpars. (F) and (G). Subsec. (b)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 109–59, § 4109(a), added pars. (2) to (4) and struck out former pars. (2) to (4), which related to design of program with State licensing systems in par. (2), conditions of participation in par. (3), and funding for fiscal years 1998 to 2003 in par. (4). 1998—Pub. L. 105–178 amended section catchline and text generally, substituting, in subsec. (a), provisions relating to information systems and data analysis for provisions relating to definition of commercial motor vehicle, in subsec. (b), provisions relating to performance and registration information program for provisions relating to information system, in subsec. (c), provisions relating to commercial motor vehicle driver safety program for provisions relating to demonstration project, in subsec. (d), provisions relating to cooperative agreements, grants, and contracts for provisions relating to review of State systems, and in subsec. (e), provisions relating to information availability and privacy protection policy for provisions relating to

Regulations

, and striking out subsecs. (f) and (g), which related to report to Congress and authorization of appropriations, respectively.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by section 5102 of Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Amendment by section 5101(e)(2) of Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2016, see section 5101(f) of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 31102 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2012 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–141 effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways. Deemed References to Chapters 509 and 511 of Title 51General references to “this title” deemed to refer also to chapters 509 and 511 of Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs, see section 4(d)(8) of Pub. L. 111–314, set out as a note under section 101 of this title. Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks Deployment Pub. L. 109–59, title IV, § 4126, Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1738, as amended by Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title V, § 5105(f)(1), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1529, which required the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a commercial vehicle information systems and networks program and provided for grants for deployment, was repealed by Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title V, § 5101(e)(5), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1525, effective Oct. 1, 2016.

§31106 Information systems

Summary

Title 49, §31106

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Regulations

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata