Hawaii transportation laws

What it would do: Appropriates funds from the state highway fund to the Department of Transportation for fiscal year 2024-2025 to cover payroll, fringe benefits, and administrative costs for motor carrier law enforcement transferred from the Public Utilities Commission.

What it would do: Lowers the minimum age for intrastate commercial driving from nineteen to eighteen years old and requires drivers under twenty-one to be actively enrolled in a state-approved commercial driver training program or registered apprenticeship program.

What it would do: Establishes administrative hearings procedures for transportation violations including photo red light and automated speed enforcement citations, transfers appeals from district court to the Department of Transportation's administrative hearings division, and prohibits such violations from appearing on traffic abstracts or affecting insurance.

What it would do: Amends the commercial driver licensing exemption to clarify that state and county firefighters exempt from licensure must be subject to an alcohol and substance abuse policy equivalent to or exceeding federal Department of Transportation safety standards for commercial driver's license holders.

What it would do: Classifies delivery drivers as employees rather than independent contractors under Hawaii's workers' compensation, wage and hour, disability insurance, family leave, tax, and unemployment insurance laws if they must complete deliveries within specified timeframes and cannot decline assignments without penalties or loss of access to work.

What it would do: Requires motor carriers using automated vehicles to transport passengers to have a licensed supervisor onboard at all times and provide supervisor training. Establishes a tax credit of 35% of qualified training expenses, capped at $10,000 per taxpayer annually and $1,000,000 total per year.

What it would do: Amends Hawaii's Motor Carrier Law to classify transportation network companies and their drivers as common carriers subject to regulatory requirements, and repeals Chapter 279J, effective July 1, 3000.

What it would do: Urges the Public Utilities Commission to support transferring its regulatory authority over motor carriers and other transportation means, including water carriers, to the Department of Transportation, subject to legislative action.

What it would do: Requests the Public Utilities Commission to establish a dedicated panel of commissioners to oversee matters related to intrastate water carriers and maritime commerce, and encourages enhanced coordination between the PUC, Department of Transportation, and maritime stakeholders.

What it would do: Creates the Warehouse Worker Protection Act requiring employers with 100+ employees at one warehouse or 500+ across Hawaii to provide written quota descriptions, maintain employee work speed data records, prohibit quotas preventing meal/rest breaks, and protect workers from retaliation for requesting quota information or filing complaints.

What it would do: Transfers motor carrier and water carrier regulatory functions from the Public Utilities Commission to the Department of Transportation, effective July 1, 2027, and makes conforming amendments to Hawaii Revised Statutes.

What it would do: Amends commercial driver's license qualification standards to require proof of citizenship or lawful permanent residency instead of state domicile, and requires the examiner of drivers to check the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse beginning November 18, 2024 before issuing or renewing commercial licenses.

What it would do: Exempts non-profit community-based organizations from Hawaii motor carrier regulations when they provide transportation services within state or county-approved plans, own their transportation assets without profit motive, and include community stakeholder involvement.

What it would do: Repeals motor carrier vehicle safety inspection requirements and eliminates related inspection station permits, fees, and penalties. Removes inspection standards from the director's duties while retaining other motor carrier safety regulations.

What it would do: Establishes an infrastructure working group within the department of transportation to conduct a comprehensive study assessing Hawaii's port and harbor system's viability for agricultural product transportation, with findings due to the legislature by November 1, 2027.

What it would do: Requests the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility and advisability of eliminating the State's safety inspection requirements for motor carrier vehicles and submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2026.