Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA

Truck and bus safety regulation passed from the Interstate Commerce Commission to the Federal Highway Administration in 1967. After a series of fatal crashes and critical audits, the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 moved the function into a separate agency, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began operating on January 1, 2000. It is led by an Administrator confirmed by the Senate.

FMCSA registers interstate trucking and bus companies, sets national standards for commercial driver's licenses that states issue, and regulates drivers' hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and drug and alcohol testing. Since 2017 most long-haul truckers have had to record their hours with electronic logging devices instead of paper logs, and since 2020 a national clearinghouse has tracked drivers' drug and alcohol violations. The agency audits carriers and funds state roadside inspections, which can place unsafe drivers and vehicles out of service.

More than 5,000 people a year die in crashes involving large trucks. In 2025 the administration ordered stricter enforcement of a requirement that commercial drivers be able to read and speak English and, after a fatal crash in Florida, issued an emergency rule sharply limiting commercial licenses for drivers who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Supporters said the moves closed safety loopholes, while trucking industry groups worried about driver shortages and immigrant and civil liberties groups called them discriminatory.