HR5423-119

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Predatory Truck Leasing Prevention Act of 2025.

2. Prohibition on predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement programs Section 14102 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to prohibit the use of predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase programs by motor carriers providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter 135. In promulgating regulations pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish a process by which drivers can be granted relief from the terms of a lease-purchase agreement if— the Secretary finds that the terms of the lease-purchase agreement violated regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (1); and the lease-purchase agreement was entered into after the effective date of the regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (1). In this subsection: The term predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement program means the framework of motor carrier-driver relationship, including the lease-purchase agreement, the contract for the driver’s work for the motor carrier, and the motor carrier’s practices in implementing the contracts that are not provided in the contract, including the motor carrier’s recruitment practices, operational practices, and tax and finance practices, whereby the motor carrier controls the work, compensation, and debts of the driver, and the driver accrues no equity or is forced to give up equity accrued in the contracted truck. The term lease-purchase agreement means a financial contract by which a driver leases a commercial motor vehicle from a motor carrier (or a firm affiliated with such motor carrier) to haul freight while driving for the same motor carrier under a separate contract. (c)Prohibition on predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-Purchase agreement program(1)In generalNot later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to prohibit the use of predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase programs by motor carriers providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter 135.(2)Relief provisionIn promulgating regulations pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish a process by which drivers can be granted relief from the terms of a lease-purchase agreement if—(A)the Secretary finds that the terms of the lease-purchase agreement violated regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (1); and(B)the lease-purchase agreement was entered into after the effective date of the regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (1).(3)DefinitionsIn this subsection:(A)Predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement programThe term predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement program means the framework of motor carrier-driver relationship, including the lease-purchase agreement, the contract for the driver’s work for the motor carrier, and the motor carrier’s practices in implementing the contracts that are not provided in the contract, including the motor carrier’s recruitment practices, operational practices, and tax and finance practices, whereby the motor carrier controls the work, compensation, and debts of the driver, and the driver accrues no equity or is forced to give up equity accrued in the contracted truck.(B)Lease purchase agreementThe term lease-purchase agreement means a financial contract by which a driver leases a commercial motor vehicle from a motor carrier (or a firm affiliated with such motor carrier) to haul freight while driving for the same motor carrier under a separate contract..