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House advances bill giving Montana DOT authority to regulate truck platooning after safety amendment
Summary
The Montana House moved House Bill 97 forward after adopting an amendment that requires stakeholder engagement and a safety study before platooning permits are issued; the bill gives the Department of Transportation rulemaking authority for platooning and sets CDL requirements for drivers of lead vehicles.
House Bill 97, a measure to allow and regulate the platooning of trucks, cleared second reading in the Montana House after lawmakers adopted an amendment requiring study and stakeholder engagement before permitting begins.
The amendment, offered by Representative Baum and approved 84-16, requires the Montana Department of Transportation to conduct a safety study and engage law enforcement, the trucking industry, platooning technology developers and the Transportation Interim Committee in developing rules and standards before issuing permits. The full bill, as amended, was recommended to pass on second reading by voice and later recorded votes (95-5) in committee.
Representative Worth, the bill sponsor, described platooning as a practice in which a lead truck controls one or more following vehicles and said the bill’s core purpose is to give the department authority to write rules and issue permits. "What this bill primarily does is it gives to the highway department the ability to write rules, issue permits," Worth said during floor remarks.
Representative Baum, sponsor of the floor amendment, said the change "brings everybody to the table" and ties permitting to results of the department's study and a robust rulemaking process so that safety concerns are addressed before companies operate platoons in Montana.
Representative Durham, who identified herself as chair of the Transportation Committee during debate, said technology is arriving whether the legislature acts or not and argued the amendment provides necessary "sideboards" so platooning does not begin without standards in place.
Key provisions discussed on the House floor and in committee include: - Definitions for "platooning" and levels of automation; lead/conductor of platoons must hold a commercial driver's license. - Rulemaking authority for the Montana Department of Transportation to permit platooning and to set safety rules and route restrictions. - A requirement that the department engage stakeholders and complete a safety study before issuing permits (per the adopted amendment).
Actions and votes recorded in the transcript show the amendment passed by roll call (84 ayes to 16 no) and the bill was recommended to pass on second reading with a separate vote count recorded at 95 ayes to 5 no.
The bill text also includes delayed effective-date language and provisions authorizing special permits and related rulemaking. The department's specific rule timetable, the content of the study and the routes that would be permitted were not specified on the floor and remain subject to rulemaking and future administrative action.
