[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.] What BUILD America 250 Means for Autonomous Trucking Rulemaking Committee Would Include Industry, Labor and Research Groups Staff Reporter Key Takeaways: - House lawmakers released the BUILD America 250 Act on May 17 with a federal framework regulating self-driving trucks and autonomous commercial vehicle safety standards. - The proposal would require Level 4 and 5 truck manufacturers to assume driver duties and replace varying state rules with national performance standards. - The Transportation Department would have two years to finalize standards while a rulemaking panel and workforce training grant program launch within 12 months. The bipartisan, five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill released May 17 — the BUILD America 250 Act — included details on the typical investment programs for U.S. roads, bridges, rail transportation and motor carrier safety programs. For the first time, however, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee included a federal policy framework regulating the deployment of self-driving trucks, winning plaudits from the industry. The framework — Safe Integration of Autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles — would create a performance-based safety standard for commercial motor vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS). Manufacturers of Level 4 or Level 5 autonomous vehicles would be required to assume the duties usually taken on by a human driver in real time when the ADS is active. The framework also demands standards for ADS-equipped commercial motor vehicles that include visual or digital hazard alerts for nearby road users — in plain language, alerts for when a truck breaks down. Meanwhile, the bill lays out provisions that an operator must be on board if the vehicle is primarily involved in transporting minors, such as an autonomous school bus, or placarded for hazardous materials. RELATED: Autonomous Trucks Are Here, but When Will They Scale?