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Lawmakers weigh rules for platooning trucks as DOT and unions urge strict limits
Summary
House Bill 97 would set permitting and safety standards for platooning (autonomous-following) trucks. MDT signaled conditional opposition, urging permits, geographic limits and a later effective date; Teamsters and Montana AFL-CIO urged tabling over safety and workforce concerns.
Representative Worth told the House Transportation Committee that House Bill 97 aims to set guardrails for platooning — truck platoons in which a lead truck with a driver communicates with following trucks that may be partially or fully autonomous.
Senator Dan Loge, who worked on the interim study, said the bill’s purpose is to allow experimentation with safety-oriented permitting rather than creating a free-for-all. “The idea is not to stop this from happening, but it’s to set up those safety guidelines,” he said.
Larry Flynn, deputy director at the Montana Department of Transportation, said MDT is “conditionally opposed” to the bill as written but supportive of the concept. Flynn urged codified restrictions and a permitting regime rather than leaving all details to administrative rulemaking: limits on where platoons may operate (for example, on interstate corridors and a short radius off the interstate), caps on number of trucks and trailers per platoon, and a later effective date (suggested January 2026) to allow time to write rules. MDT also suggested permitting so the department can locate and, if necessary, temporarily stop platooning operations in adverse conditions.
Labor organizations urged caution. Eric Anderson of Teamsters Local unions said Teamsters oppose platooning and asked the committee to table HB97, arguing the practice risks public safety and jobs in Montana’s variable weather. Amanda Frickle of the Montana AFL-CIO also urged tabling, citing federal regulatory gaps and studies that have reduced private-sector enthusiasm for platooning elsewhere.
Sponsor Worth and proponents described how platooned vehicles operate: a front truck with a driver follows a mapped route and the following truck uses sensor data and pre-recorded route information to maintain distance. Committee members discussed amendments that would require permits, restrict platooning to portions of the interstate system or a defined radius, limit platoon size and trailers, and consider a sunset and safety-driver requirements for early deployments.
No final action was taken. Chair Durham closed the HB97 hearing and said the committee will take executive action on Wednesday at 3 p.m. where amendments and timing can be considered.
If advanced, the bill would next move to the committee’s executive action session for amendment and potential passage consideration.
