FMCSA’s new guidance tells truck drivers what to do if they’re pressured to violate safety rules
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) shared new guidance to help truckers recognize and respond to driver coercion.
What Is The Driver Coercion Rule?
On April 28, 2026, FMCSA shared an FAQ bulletin on the Coercion Rule, which prohibits trucking companies, shippers, receivers, and other entities from coercing a commercial vehicle driver to violate certain FMCSA regulations, including hours-of-service limits, commercial driver’s license (CDL) regulations, and drug and alcohol testing rules.
The Coercion Rule, which went into effect in January 2016, allows drivers to report incidents of coercion to FMCSA and authorizes FMCSA to issue penalties against motor carriers, shippers, receivers, or transportation intermediaries that have coerced drivers.
The agency said that the new guidance was issued to “help drivers understand how they might be coerced to violate safety regulations and what they can do if they believe they have been coerced.” FMCSA notes that these FAQs are not legally binding.
FMCSA’S New Driver Coercion Guidance
Take a look at the new FMCSA guidance on Driver Coercion below.
1. What is the purpose of the Coercion Rule (49 CFR 390.6)?
The “coercion rule”, 49 CFR 390.6, is designed to protect commercial motor vehicle drivers from being pressured to violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) by motor carriers, shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries (brokers) and their agents, officers, or representatives.
2. What does coercion involve?
The FMCSRs define “coercion” in 49 CFR 390.5T as a threat to withhold business, employment, or work opportunities from a driver, a threat to take or permit adverse employment action against a driver, or actually taking any of these actions against a driver, which is done in order to induce the driver to take an action that would violate the FMCSRs or punish the driver for refusing to violate the FMCSRs. The sequence of events in a coercive action involves three elements:
i. The Request: A carrier, shipper, or broker requests a driver perform a task that would violate a safety regulation (see Question 3 for examples).
ii. The Objection: The driver informs the requestor that the driver would not be able to complete the task without violating a regulation. This can be done in writing (for example, responding to a text message or email) or verbally during a conversation.
iii. The Threat or Negative Action: The requesting party makes a threat—either direct or implied—to take negative action against the driver’s employment or work opportunities in order to pressure the driver to comply, or actually takes negative action to punish the driver for refusing to commit the violation. Importantly, the requesting party does not need to follow through on the threat – just the fact that a threat was made is enough for coercion to have occurred.
If you file a complaint under 49 CFR 386.12(c), it will need to set out the facts of how the coercion occurred.
3. What types of actions can be considered coercion?
Coercion can involve many aspects of a driver’s work. If a motor carrier, shipper, receiver, or broker asks a driver to violate any of the regulations in 49 CFR parts 171-173, 177-180, 380-383, or 390-399, or §§ 385.415 or 385.421, it may be coercion. Coercion by a motor carrier (but not shipper, receiver, or broker) can also involve requests to violate parts 356, 360, or 365-379.
The following table includes just a few examples of interactions that may be coercive:
| Category | Prohibited Action | Potentially Applicable FMCSR(s) |
| Hours of Service | Pressuring a driver to exceed driving limits or ignore required rest breaks. | 49 CFR part 395 |
| Recordkeeping | Pressuring a driver to falsify driving logs, including by using “Personal Conveyance” or “Off Duty” time to advance a load. | 49 CFR 395.30 |
| Speed | Scheduling runs that would require the driver to exceed speed limits. | 49 CFR 392.6 |
| Equipment Safety | Requiring a driver to operate a vehicle before inspecting it, or to operate a vehicle with known “Out-of-Service” defects. | 49 CFR 392.7, 49 CFR 392.8, or 49 CFR part 396 |
| Weight/Loading | Demanding a driver transport an overweight load or an unsecured trailer. | 49 CFR part 393 |
| Illness/Fatigue | Forcing a driver to operate while they are too ill or fatigued to drive safely. | 49 CFR 392.3 |
| Alcohol Use | Requiring a driver to work when the driver has used alcohol within the preceding four hours. | 49 CFR 392.5 |
Drivers should make sure they are familiar with the FMCSRs so they are able to understand whether a request would violate a regulation and to make an objection to such requests.
4. What types of actions count as coercive or “adverse employment actions”?
Under the FMCSRs, employers are prohibited from withholding business, employment or work opportunities from a driver, taking or permitting any adverse employment action against a driver, or threatening to do any of these things. These actions could include, but are not limited to:
- Termination: Firing or threatening to fire the driver.
- Withholding Business: Denying future loads, reducing miles, or threatening to do so.
- Economic Penalties: Threatening to cut the driver’s pay, withhold bonuses, or impose “fines,” or actually doing any of these things.
- Scheduling Retaliation: Assigning less-desirable routes, not scheduling a driver for several days, or transferring the driver to a less convenient location as a form of punishment, or threatening to do these or similar things.
- Other: Depending on the situation, other actions could also be considered “adverse employment action,” such as deliberately damaging the driver’s reputation to prevent the driver from working elsewhere (or threatening to do so). When a driver files a complaint, FMCSA considers all the facts when making a determination of whether coercion occurred.
Coercion occurs the moment a threat is made. The driver does not actually have to commit the violation for coercion to have occurred. Even if the driver refuses the load and is not punished, the act of threatening the driver is a violation. Conversely, even if the employer doesn’t directly or implicitly threaten the driver at the time of the request but then takes a negative action to punish the driver for not committing the violation, this is also prohibited coercion.
5. If I feel I have been coerced, what can I do?
There are several important things a driver should do if faced with a coercive situation.
- Keep records: It is helpful to FMCSA investigators when drivers keep good records of their communications. For instance, if the driver has written evidence, such as copies of ELD messages, text messages, or emails, these can be important in showing that coercion occurred. A driver could also write a statement describing a potentially coercive conversation while it is fresh in his or her memory (the driver could email the statement to himself or herself to show that the statement was written close in time to the coercive act).
- File a complaint with FMCSA: A written complaint must be filed within 90 calendar days of the incident and must be submitted to the National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB) or the FMCSA Division Administrator for the State where the driver is employed. If a driver needs more information about filing a written complaint, he or she can call 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238). See 49 CFR 386.12(c)(1).
- Include all the necessary information in the complaint: A complaint must be signed by the driver and must contain all the following information:(i) The driver’s name, address, and telephone number;
(ii) The name and business address of the person allegedly coercing the driver;
(iii) The regulation(s) that the driver alleges he or she was coerced to violate; and
(iv) A concise but complete statement of the facts the driver is relying on to show that an incident involving coercion occurred, including the date of each alleged violation.
When FMCSA receives a complaint that leaves out important information, or if the driver fails to sign the complaint, it prevents FMCSA from being able to properly investigate that complaint.
6. Can my employer retaliate against me for filing a complaint?
No, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees under Federal law for filing a coercion complaint (49 U.S.C. 31105). Under 49 CFR 386.12(c)(3), FMCSA makes every practicable effort to protect drivers who allege retaliation by their employers.