The federal law that funds America’s highways, the 2021 infrastructure law, was set to expire on September 30, 2026. Congress did what it often does: it bought more time. The continuing resolution signed in September extends surface transportation authorization through December 11, 2026. That gives lawmakers roughly ten more weeks to pass a long-term bill, and it puts the House’s BUILD America 250 Act at the center of the conversation.
For trucking, the stakes are high. This bill will shape truck parking, driver training, broker accountability, autonomous trucks and how the Highway Trust Fund is paid for over the next five years.
Where things stand
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved H.R. 8870, the BUILD America 250 Act, on May 22 after a 14-hour markup, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The bill authorizes about $580 billion over five years, fiscal 2027 through 2031. Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen built it as a bipartisan compromise. As of this writing, it has not received a House floor vote, and the Senate has not released its own version, so the timeline remains tight.
The September extension also has a catch: it does not include the advance appropriations that the 2021 law used for transit and passenger rail, which critics say amounts to major cuts for those programs. That is a reminder that short-term extensions are not neutral.
What is in it for trucking
Both the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have praised the bill, which is rare. OOIDA called it the most pro-trucker highway bill in recent memory. Key provisions include:
- Truck parking: $750 million over five years, $150 million a year, dedicated to creating new truck parking capacity. This is essentially Rep. Mike Bost’s Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act.
- Restroom access: Requirements for shippers and receivers to give drivers access to restrooms.
- Driver training: Removal of noncompliant CDL training providers from the federal registry within 90 days, and incentives for schools to require minimum behind-the-wheel hours.
- Younger drivers: An extension of the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program for 18- to 20-year-olds.
- Fraud and bad actors: Tougher entry requirements for brokers and motor carriers, a ban on predatory lease-purchase agreements, and a fairer DataQ challenge process.
- Autonomous trucks: A federal framework for autonomous commercial vehicles.
- Funding: New fees on electric vehicles to support the Highway Trust Fund, and elimination of the program that authorized congestion pricing on Interstates.
- Safety and testing: Recognition of hair testing for drug screening, pending federal guidelines, and new requirements for hauling lithium-ion battery mega packs.
Truck parking is the headline for drivers
Ask any driver what makes the job harder than it needs to be and parking will come up within the first minute. There is roughly one parking space for every eleven trucks on the road, and drivers routinely give up an hour or more of drive time just to find a safe place to stop. OOIDA made dedicated parking funding a condition of its support, and it won. As someone who has written about parking safety legislation before, I think this may be the single most meaningful quality-of-life provision for drivers in a generation.
Funding is only the first step, though. States, local governments and private operators still have to site, permit and build these spaces, and local opposition often stalls projects. I would also like to see a portion of the money go toward real-time parking availability systems, which can make existing spaces far more useful by telling drivers where open spots are before they exit the highway.
The Highway Trust Fund problem
Underneath every highway bill is the same arithmetic problem. The Highway Trust Fund is paid for largely by federal fuel taxes that have not been raised since 1993, while vehicles have become more efficient and electric vehicles pay nothing at the pump. Trucking pays a disproportionate share of highway user fees already. The House bill’s new EV fee is one piece of the answer, but a durable fix will require a broader conversation about how every user pays fairly for the roads they use.
The technology opportunity
From an intelligent transportation systems perspective, this bill is a chance to fund the digital layer of our highways: connected work zones, V2X roadside infrastructure, freight corridor data and the systems autonomous trucks will depend on. Concrete and asphalt will always be the backbone, but data is increasingly what makes that backbone safe and efficient.
What to watch before December 11
- Whether the House schedules a floor vote on H.R. 8870.
- Whether the Senate Environment and Public Works and Commerce committees release their titles.
- How Congress settles the Highway Trust Fund shortfall, including EV fees.
- Whether truck parking funding survives conference negotiations intact.
If you run a trucking company or care about the people who drive, now is the time to call your representatives. Bills like this are written in the next few weeks, not after they pass.