The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the five-year surface transportation law passed in 2021, reached the end of its authorization on Sept. 30, 2026.
Programs did not lapse. A continuing resolution, H.R. 6500, extends surface transportation programs through Dec. 11, 2026. The Senate passed it on Aug. 8 by 90–6, the House on Sept. 1 by 370–48, and it was signed into law on Sept. 2.
This is a news summary, not legal advice.
What the extension does
It keeps highway and transit programs running at prorated fiscal 2026 levels and prevents a shutdown of federal transportation funding. FMCSA keeps operating, grants keep flowing, and nothing about your compliance obligations changes on Oct. 1.
What it doesn't do is settle anything. It buys Congress ten more weeks to agree a multi-year replacement.
Where the replacement stands
On May 22, 2026, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870) by 62–2. It is a five-year, roughly $580 billion package.
The Senate still has to advance its own version, and then the two chambers have to negotiate a final bill. Committee chair Sam Graves has called passing a multi-year bill before the end of this Congress a top priority. Whether it fits in the time available is another matter.
The trucking issues riding on it
Highway bills carry more than road money. They are also where FMCSA policy gets written into law. The Congressional Research Service's list of commercial trucking issues in play for this reauthorization includes:
- Truck lease-purchase agreements. Scrutiny of programs that leave drivers carrying the cost of a truck they never end up owning.
- Driver classification. Whether drivers are independent contractors or employees, which we've looked at from the driver's side in misclassified CDL driver rights.
- Detention time. Unpaid hours at shippers and receivers, one of drivers' most persistent complaints.
- Broker transparency. Already moving separately as a rulemaking. See where the broker transparency rule stands.
- Insurance costs, including the long-running debate over minimum liability levels. See what drives trucking insurance premiums.
- Household goods moving fraud.
- Cargo theft. See our look at cargo theft in 2026.
- Hazardous materials safety.
The House bill also creates a federal framework for automated commercial vehicles operating across state lines, including a safety standard rulemaking.
What to watch before Dec. 11
- A Senate bill. Nothing gets negotiated until the Senate produces its version.
- Whether trucking provisions survive the negotiation. Policy riders are often the first things traded away when a deadline is close.
- Another extension. Missing a reauthorization deadline and extending again is common. A second short-term extension would not be unusual.
- Comment and advocacy windows. If detention pay, lease-purchase reform or broker transparency matter to your business, this is the stretch where your association's lobbying actually gets used.
Quick answers
Did highway funding stop on Oct. 1? No. A continuing resolution signed Sept. 2 extends programs through Dec. 11, 2026.
What is the BUILD America 250 Act? The House's five-year, roughly $580 billion surface transportation reauthorization, approved in committee on May 22, 2026.
Does anything change for carriers now? No. The extension keeps current law and programs in place.
Sources
- AASHTO Journal: House passes Senate CR to extend federal government funding
- Congressional Research Service: Surface Transportation Reauthorization — Commercial Trucking Issues
- Holland & Knight: BUILD America 250 Act — House surface transportation reauthorization
- NACo: Federal funding extension creates transportation funding cliff
