On June 9, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing on how technological advances are driving transportation innovation. There were witnesses representing the trucking and railroad industries, the Teamsters Union, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America.

The ITS witness, Laura Chace, noted that motor vehicle manufacturers continue to develop and deploy advanced technologies in vehicles, including SAE Level 4 and 5 automated vehicles (AVs), Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications. She stated that companies are deploying automated vehicle technologies in different ways and in different geographies – including robotaxis, transit shuttle services, and heavy-freight, including on rural roads for farm-to-market transport.

Ms. Chace said that automakers have made significant investments in ADAS, and the safety benefits are apparent. In some rural areas, nearly half of all crash-related fatalities over the last seven years have involved lane departure, and ADAS can help mitigate these crashes.

Moreover, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology can provide drivers with critical information and improved awareness about roadway, traffic, and weather conditions before a user encounters them, through the deployment of connected vehicles and infrastructure.

Chris Spear of the American Trucking Associations testified that the entire supply chain – not just motor carriers but also shippers, property brokers, and freight forwarders – continues to experience increasing levels of fraud, cargo theft, and identity theft carried out by sophisticated criminal organizations and individual bad actors. Many of these schemes exploit weaknesses and gaps in DOT registration and credentialing systems through theft, purchase, manipulation, or misuse of DOT numbers, operating authority credentials, and carrier identities.

Spear noted that the FMCSA launched its modernized Motus Registration System in May 2026 to replace an outdated legacy registration platform and address these security concerns. While this is an improvement, he asked for ongoing congressional oversight as the implementation moves forward.

He also voiced support for enactment of the Securing American Freight, Enforcement, and Reliability in (SAFER) Transport Act, which was introduced by Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and is intended to strengthen federal efforts to detect and eradicate freight fraud and cargo theft across the transportation ecosystem.

Spear said ATA supports legislation to increase enforcement against fraudulent Electronic Logging Device providers, who currently may self-certify that they meet all FMCSA requirements for their products.

Finally, Spear discussed several issues involving marijuana reclassification. He testified that since 2020, some 260,000 positive DOT drug tests for commercial motor vehicle drivers found marijuana in the driver’s urine. These account for approximately 60% of all positive drug tests.

Spear said there is no universally agreed-upon standard or scientific threshold for marijuana impairment. Nor is there a mature technology available for law enforcement to test for impairment, such as what exists for alcohol and drunk driving. He asked that Congress encourage the development of these standards and deployment of workable technology that would allow roadside detection of marijuana impairment.