Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, April 28, 2022:
Yesterday's action is the first step forward in almost six years in capping speeds on commercial vehicles, although the notice does not specify a specific maximum speed. The proposed rulemaking in 2016 sought comments on maximum speeds of 60, 65 and 68 miles per hour.
The notice of intent is a fact-finding and data-mining exercise, FMCSA said, that would aid the agency in potentially drafting a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
American Trucking Associations has long been in favor of speed limiters and applauded the Department of Transportation for "pursuing a constructive, data-driven approach to the issue of truck speed limiters in its latest proposal," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "We intend to thoroughly review FMCSA’s proposal, and we look forward to working with the agency to shape a final rule that is consistent with our policy supporting the use of speed limiters in conjunction with numerous other safety technologies.”
Last March, ATA and Road Safe America penned a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg calling for the implementation of speed-limiting technology on heavy-duty trucks, and threw their support behind the December 2019-proposed Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act, which called for all new commercial trucks to be equipped with speed limiters and to require existing speed-limiting technology already installed on trucks manufactured after 1992 to be used while in operation. The bill called for maximum speeds to be set at 65 mph, or 70 mph if certain safety technologies, such as an adaptive cruise control system and an automatic emergency braking system, were also in use.
