A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives could redefine certain aspects of cross-border trucking between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Titled the Protecting America’s Roads Act, the proposal—introduced by Texas Representative Beth Van Duyne—seeks to codify recent Department of Transportation (DOT) rule changes governing how commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) are issued and verified for foreign nationals.
Section 3 of the bill directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to “terminate any existing reciprocity agreements that recognize foreign commercial driver’s licenses in the United States or permit holders of foreign commercial driver’s licenses to operate a commercial motor vehicle in the United States, unless expressly authorized by statute.”
However, according to clarifications provided by Van Duyne’s office to LandLine Media, this measure would not affect Canadian or Mexican commercial licenses recognized under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), since that arrangement was already authorized by Congress.
In practice, the provision aims to ensure that only Congress—not federal agencies—has the authority to establish or maintain reciprocity agreements with other countries. It would primarily impact any other administrative agreements that FMCSA or DOT may have approved outside of the USMCA framework.
The legislation also proposes several amendments to Title 49 of the U.S. Code, which governs commercial driver licensing. Applicants for a CDL would be required to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residency, or authorized employment status, along with proof of domicile in the state where the license is issued.
States would be required to use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system to verify the legal status of non-citizen applicants. A non-citizen’s CDL or learner’s permit would expire no later than the date indicated on their I-94 document or one year after issuance, whichever comes first. All renewals, transfers, or status changes would have to be completed in person.
The bill further mandates that states revoke or downgrade a CDL if a non-citizen driver no longer meets legal status requirements. It directs the Secretary of Transportation to create a penalty system for states failing to comply and authorizes agencies participating in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program to report foreign nationals operating commercial vehicles illegally in the U.S.
If adopted, the Protecting America’s Roads Act would take effect six months after being signed into law.
This article has been updated at 6:55 pm following clarifications provided by Representative Beth Van Duyne’s office to LandLine Media, thanks to OOIDA.
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