Trucking Security and CCP Disclosure Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Trucking Security and CCP Disclosure Act bars award or performance of a Department of Defense motor-freight contract by a covered carrier unless the carrier certifies, after reasonable inquiry, that it is not owned or controlled by and lacks significant business relationships with an entity on the Defense Department's most recent section 1260H Chinese military company list. The carrier must also promise to require the same certification from every subcontractor and owner-operator it uses.
The certification rule reaches prime contractors, subcontractors, and owner-operators at every tier. Prime carriers must flow the requirement into subcontracts and lease agreements, and covered carriers must retain certifications for at least five years. A knowingly false certification can lead to suspension or debarment and the bill describes civil penalties under 18 U.S.C. 1001, although that cited statute principally defines criminal false-statement liability. Defense must issue implementing regulations within 180 days and integrate the requirement into existing Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command approval processes. Defense regulations will define the potentially broad term significant business relationships.
Separately, the Transportation Secretary, acting through FMCSA and coordinating with Defense, must establish the Secure Defense Freight Carrier Registry within one year. A carrier must hold valid FMCSA authority, meet Defense qualification standards, undergo enhanced screening for section 1260H entities and any other foreign-adversary entity designated by Defense, verify that drivers and freight-access personnel satisfy security standards comparable to TWIC or another relevant program, and undergo revetting at least every two years.
The application process must be streamlined and coordinated with current Defense approval systems. Beginning one year after enactment, a motor carrier may neither bid on nor perform a Defense freight contract unless it is on the registry. The Defense Secretary may waive that prohibition for exigent circumstances, with no statutory duration, publication, or reporting rule for a waiver.
The bill does not appropriate implementation money, require public disclosure of carrier certifications or registry decisions, define significant business relationships in the statute, establish a carrier appeal process, or prohibit carriers from hauling non-Defense freight.
Who Benefits and How
Defense logistics programs and military freight customers gain mandatory affiliation screening, personnel vetting, records, and periodic revetting. Registry-approved carriers may gain a clearer signal of eligibility and reduced competition from carriers that cannot pass the security screen. Vetting, compliance, and identity-security vendors may gain work.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Prime carriers, subcontractors, owner-operators, drivers, and other freight-access personnel must investigate affiliations, certify, flow terms down, retain records, pass security checks, and repeat vetting. Carriers with listed Chinese military relationships or other designated foreign-adversary ties lose Defense contracting opportunities. Defense, FMCSA, USTRANSCOM, and the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command must define standards, operate the registry, coordinate approvals, and administer waivers and enforcement.
Key Provisions
- Requires affiliation certifications at every contracting tier.
- Requires reasonable inquiry into ownership and business relationships.
- Requires certification flow-down in subcontracts and leases.
- Requires five years of certification records.
- Authorizes suspension or debarment for knowing false certifications.
- Requires Defense regulations within 180 days.
- Establishes a Secure Defense Freight Carrier Registry within one year.
- Requires enhanced foreign-adversary security screening.
- Requires personnel security standards comparable to TWIC.
- Requires revetting at least every two years.
- Prohibits unregistered carriers from bidding or performing after one year.
- Allows exigent-circumstances waivers.
- Provides no direct appropriation or statutory appeal process.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Conditions every tier of Defense motor-freight contracting on certifications against ownership, control, or significant business relationships with listed Chinese military companies and creates a mandatory, repeatedly vetted national-security registry for carriers bidding on or performing that freight.
Key Policy Areas
Defense Freight Procurement, Motor Carrier Regulation, China National Security Screening, Supply Chain Security, Federal Contractor Vetting
Primary Purpose
Conditions every tier of Defense motor-freight contracting on certifications against ownership, control, or significant business relationships with listed Chinese military companies and creates a mandatory, repeatedly vetted national-security registry for carriers bidding on or performing that freight.
Policy Domains
Sections 2 and 3 all-tier carrier certifications, false-statement consequences, Defense rulemaking, national-security registry, eligibility vetting, revetting, contract prohibition, and exigent waivers
Identified Gains
- Department of Defense freight programs
- Department of Defense logistics program managers
- Military freight customers
- Registry-approved motor carriers
- Motor carrier contractors that pass registry screening
- Security-vetted freight drivers
- Carrier compliance vendors
- Transportation security screening vendors
Identified Costs
- Prime motor carriers transporting Defense freight
- Motor-carrier subcontractors transporting Defense freight
- Owner-operators transporting Defense freight
- Motor carrier employers applying for registry approval
- Security-screened freight workers
- Carriers affiliated with listed Chinese military companies
- Drivers requiring comparable security screening
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Transportation Department registry administrators
- Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command
- Department of Defense procurement officials
- Federal taxpayers funding registry implementation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Ms. Stefanik introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Carriers affiliated with listed Chinese military companies, Carriers linked to designated foreign adversaries, Drivers requiring comparable security screening
Positive-direction: Registry-approved motor carriers
Negative-direction: Carriers affiliated with listed Chinese military companies, Carriers linked to designated foreign adversaries, Drivers requiring comparable security screening, Motor carriers seeking Defense freight contracts, Motor-carrier subcontractors transporting Defense freight, Owner-operators awaiting registry approval, Owner-operators transporting Defense freight, Prime motor carriers transporting Defense freight, Unregistered motor carriers
Defense logistics officials issuing exigent waivers, Department of Defense carrier approval staff, Department of Defense freight programs
Positive-direction: Department of Defense freight programs
Negative-direction: Defense logistics officials issuing exigent waivers, Department of Defense carrier approval staff, Department of Defense procurement officials, Department of Defense registry coordinators, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Transportation Department registry staff
Defense freight customers, Freight personnel accessing Defense cargo, Military freight customers
Positive-direction: Military freight customers, Military units needing emergency freight
Negative-direction: Freight personnel accessing Defense cargo
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "fmcsa"
- → Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration operating the registry
- "driver"
- → Driver subject to comparable security vetting
- "prime_carrier"
- → Prime motor carrier flowing certifications to lower tiers
- "subcontractor"
- → Motor-carrier subcontractor certifying affiliations
- "foreign_entity"
- → Listed Chinese military or other designated foreign-adversary entity
- "owner_operator"
- → Owner-operator certifying affiliations and seeking registry access
- "defense_secretary"
- → Secretary of Defense implementing certification and waiver rules
- "transportation_secretary"
- → Secretary of Transportation establishing the registry
Note: {'scope_ids': ['secure_defense_freight_carriers'], 'description': 'The statute demands a best-knowledge certification after reasonable inquiry but delegates the central significant-business-relationship threshold to Defense; registry eligibility also extends screening to any foreign-adversary entity designated by Defense, while an exigency waiver lacks procedural guardrails.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The FMCSA-administered list of motor carriers approved to transport Defense freight after operating-authority, qualification, affiliation, personnel, and recurring security review.
Any motor carrier, subcontractor, or owner-operator providing surface transportation services under the certification provision.
A carrier relationship with a listed Chinese military company whose substantive meaning is delegated to Defense regulations.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology