On Wednesday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a notice indicating that the agency will push forward with a rule to require speed-limiting devices on commercial motor vehicles.
In a Notice of Intent document published on April 27, the FMCSA “announces its intent to proceed with a speed limiter rulemaking by preparing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to follow up on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s and FMCSA’s jointly issued September 7, 2016, notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject.”
The FMCSA plans to propose that any commercial motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more be equipped with an electronic engine control unit (ECU) that will be capable of governing speed to a limit that will be determined during the rulemaking process.
Feedback for Speed Limiters
The FMCSA will ask the public for comment on the adjustment or reprogramming of ECUs as part of the planned rulemaking process. Public comments will be accepted once a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is published in the Federal Register.
Calls for a speed limiter rule have been increasing in 2022. Late last month, Rep. Lucy McBath and Rep. John Katko pushed for CMV speed limiters when they introduced the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act in the House, which would “codify into law a 'speed limiter' rule that has been under consideration for more than a decade.”
Calls for Change and Opposition
The American Trucking Associations (ATA), in partnership with safety group Road Safe America, sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier this year, calling for transportation officials to enact a rule requiring speed limiter devices on all vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. The ATA also suggested mandated speed limits of 60 m.p.h., 65 m.p.h., or 68 m.p.h. for vehicles with speed limiters.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) opposes any attempt to require speed limiters and argues that they “increase congestion and speed differentials between trucks and cars, which ultimately lead to more crashes. Additionally, arbitrary speed limits make it difficult for truck drivers to switch lanes to accommodate merging traffic at entrance ramps – or to merge themselves.”
OOIDA has also stated that speed limiters give an unfair advantage to larger carriers over small business truckers.
Should There be a Maximum Speed Limit for Trucks?
According to safertrucking.org, a study conducted by the United States Department of Transportation concluded that trucks using speed limiters were in half as many high-speed collisions as those not using speed limiters. In another study, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) looked at approximately 2,800 commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes in 20 counties across the state of Texas and found that “Speeding” was one of the driving behaviors that “had the most impact on CMV-at-fault crashes.”
The NHTSA, FMCSA, and lawmakers mostly agree that a maximum speed limit for trucks should be under 70 mph. 65 mph seems to be the speed enforced in most cases. While that speed might be reasonable, not many states adhere to the 65 mph standard. Some argue that lower speeds than passenger vehicles and others would create moving truck roadblocks, which could increase the number of accidents.
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