---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 U.S.C. § 31101"
title: "49"
title_heading: "Transportation"
number: "31101"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/49/31101"
units:
  - "Subtitle VI — Motor Vehicle and Driver Programs"
  - "Part B — Commercial"
  - "Chapter 311 — Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety"
  - "Subchapter I — General Authority and State Grants"
---

# §31101. Definitions


In this subchapter—

- (1) “commercial motor vehicle” means (except in [section 31106](/usc/49/31106.md)) a self-propelled or towed vehicle used on the highways in [commerce](/usc/49/31301.md?p=2) principally to transport passengers or cargo, if the vehicle—
  - (A) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of at least 10,001 pounds, whichever is greater;
  - (B) is designed to transport more than 10 passengers including the driver; or
  - (C) is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under [section 5103 of this title](/usc/49/5103.md) and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under section 5103.
- (2) “employee” means a driver of a [commercial motor vehicle](#1) (including an independent contractor when personally operating a [commercial motor vehicle](#1)), a mechanic, a freight handler, or an individual not an [employer](/usc/49/31301.md?p=8), who—
  - (A) directly affects [commercial motor vehicle](#1) safety in the course of employment by a commercial motor carrier; and
  - (B) is not an [employee](#2) of the [United States](/usc/49/31301.md?p=15) Government, a [State](#4), or a political subdivision of a [State](#4) acting in the course of employment.
- (3) “[employer](/usc/49/31301.md?p=8)”—
  - (A) means a person engaged in a business affecting [commerce](/usc/49/31301.md?p=2) that owns or leases a [commercial motor vehicle](#1) in connection with that business, or assigns an [employee](#2) to operate the vehicle in [commerce](/usc/49/31301.md?p=2); but
  - (B) does not include the Government, a [State](#4), or a political subdivision of a [State](#4).
- (4) “State” means a State of the [United States](/usc/49/31301.md?p=15), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 984; Pub. L. 105–178, title IV, § 4003(a), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 395.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 31101 | 49 App.:2301(1), (3)–(6). | Jan. 6, 1983, Pub. L. 97–424, § 401(1), (3)–(6), 96 Stat. 2154, 2155. |
|  | 49 App.:2301(2). | Jan. 6, 1983, Pub. L. 97–424, § 401(2), 96 Stat. 2154; Oct. 30, 1984, Pub. L. 98–554, § 228(a), (b), 98 Stat. 2852. |

Before clause (1), the words “unless the context otherwise requires” are omitted as unnecessary. The text of 49 App.:2301(4) is omitted as unnecessary because of 1:1. The text of 49 App.:2301(5) is omitted as surplus because the complete name of the Secretary of Transportation is used the first time the term appears in a section.

In clause (1), before subclause (A), the words “(except in section 31106)” are added because the source provisions being restated in section 31106 of the revised title contain a definition of “commercial motor vehicle”.

In clause (4), the words “the Commonwealth of” are omitted for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1998—Par. (1)(A). Pub. L. 105–178, § 4003(a)(1), inserted “or gross vehicle weight” after “rating” and substituted “10,001 pounds, whichever is greater” for “10,000 pounds”.

Par. (1)(C). Pub. L. 105–178, § 4003(a)(2), inserted “and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under section 5103” before period at end.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Savings Clause

Pub. L. 105–178, title IV, § 4003(h), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 398, provided that: “Amendments made by this section [amending this section and sections 31102 to 31104 of this title] shall not affect any funds made available before the date of enactment of this Act [June 9, 1998].”