S. 5150 — SAFE Act

This section defines terms for the Act, including the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, broker, freight forwarder, and motor carrier as given in 49 U.S.C. 13102, chameleon carrier as an entity that reoperates under a new identity to evade FMCSA orders, penalties, insurance requirements, or compliance history, and USDOT number as issued under 49 U.S.C. 31134.

This section directs the Comptroller General to submit a report to Congress within 1 year of enactment on chameleon carriers operating on United States roadways. The report must estimate their current numbers and prevalence since the March 2012 GAO report, quantify fatalities, serious injuries, and property damage caused since then (including state-level data), analyze evasion methods and their evolution, assess Department of Transportation monitoring and enforcement gaps in registration and data systems, and provide legislative recommendations.

This section directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator to develop, test, and implement within 1 year an advanced automation tool that detects chameleon carrier applications for USDOT numbers by identifying substantial continuity between entities, insurance lapses, and related factors, while providing automated decision support but reserving final determinations for agency employees. It requires memoranda of understanding for interagency and state information sharing, establishes a 30-day appeals process with notification of flagged factors, mandates a congressional briefing within 30 days on chameleon carriers, protects data privacy, and requires the Department of Transportation Inspector General to audit and report on the tool’s effectiveness within 2 years after implementation.