Congress loosens truck-driver fatigue rules for farm haulers year-round

What it does

This bill loosens federal hours-of-service rules for truck drivers hauling agricultural products. It removes seasonal time limits (planting/harvest periods) and replaces them with a year-round 150-mile radius exemption from federal driving-hour caps for agricultural commodity transport. It also expands what counts as an 'agricultural commodity' to include livestock, animal products, forestry goods, and animal feed — giving drivers hauling these items the same exemption.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is the removal of federal hours-of-service restrictions that apply to agricultural transport. It does not add new safety measures or oversight; it exempts a category of drivers from existing federal fatigue limits. This is deregulation, not safety improvement.

What the text implies

• The 150-mile radius exemption is year-round and unlimited in frequency — a driver can make unlimited trips within that radius without federal hour limits, creating chronic fatigue risk rather than seasonal accommodation.
• The definition expansion to include 'nonprocessed' animal products, forestry, and aquaculture commodities significantly broadens the exemption beyond traditional row-crop agriculture, potentially covering industrial-scale livestock and timber transport.
• The 180-day rulemaking requirement gives the Secretary of Transportation discretion to further expand the definition of 'agricultural commodity' — the bill sets a floor, not a ceiling, for what qualifies.
• No corresponding increase in state-level safety oversight or inspection authority — the bill removes federal rules but does not mandate state enforcement, creating a potential safety vacuum.
• The exemption applies to drivers transporting FROM the source OR TO the destination — a 150-mile radius from a distribution hub could cover an entire metropolitan area, exempting long-haul agricultural transport from federal fatigue rules.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill removes federal safety guardrails (hours-of-service limits) that exist to prevent driver fatigue and reduce crash risk on public roads. While agricultural shippers and trucking companies gain operational flexibility and cost savings, ordinary citizens — as passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers — face increased exposure to fatigued-driver accidents. The public safety cost outweighs the private operational benefit.

Who stands to gain

• agricultural trucking companies
• livestock transport operators
• agricultural commodity shippers
• forestry and aquaculture transport firms

Named in the bill

Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, Section 229, Secretary of Transportation, 49 CFR 395.2, Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (implied)

Where it stands

• Dec 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Dec 17, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,185,758 in lobbying spend. A filing names 34 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Deb Fischer, the sponsor, reported $351,255 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies — $1,005,758 on 2 filings
• Farmers Educational Cooperative Union of America — $180,000 on 2 filings
• Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council — $0 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.