Lawmaker takes aim at chameleon carriers in trucking industry with new bill
A lawmaker has introduced a new bill aimed at cracking down on “chameleon carriers,” a term used in trucking enforcement for companies that shut down and quickly reappear under a new name or operating authority.
Supporters of these efforts say the practice makes it harder for regulators to track a carrier’s safety history and can allow problem operators to stay on the road after enforcement action, unpaid penalties, or serious safety issues. For drivers and the public, the concern is straightforward: when a company’s record can be effectively wiped clean by restarting under a different identity, accountability gets weaker.
Chameleon carrier behavior is typically associated with tactics such as changing corporate names, shifting ownership on paper, or filing for new DOT numbers and operating authority while keeping much of the same operation in place. The goal of enforcement is to connect those dots so a carrier can’t evade its history.
The broader context is that federal and state agencies rely on carrier identification and safety records to make decisions about audits, compliance reviews, and interventions. When those records are fragmented across multiple identities, it can complicate oversight and enforcement.
Details of what the bill would require, how it would be enforced, and how it might change the current process for issuing authority were not included in the information provided.