American Trucking Associations, along with 50 state trucking associations, is asking for a 30-day extension to the comment period for the recently published proposed rule requiring speed limiters on large trucks.
The request comes via a Sept. 9 letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“In the nearly 10 years since ATA concurrently petitioned NHTSA and FMCSA for action on this important issue, much has changed in vehicle and motor carrier safety,” ATA President Chris Spear wrote in the letter, citing advances in technology, stricter regulatory oversight and increases in speed limits at the state level.
“These developments, along with new state laws and speed limits, have changed the way motor carriers view and respond to safety concerns. In addition, the proposed rule’s dramatic departure from ATA’s initial petition in terms of tamper proofing, the lack of a retrofit requirement, and the agencies’ reluctance to specify a governed speed requires additional time for ATA and its federation partners to re-engage its membership on these important issues,” Spear wrote.
Comments on the proposed rule are currently being accepted until Nov. 7. An extension would give commenters until Dec. 7 to submit their remarks. The rule wouldn’t be effective until three years after the final rule is published.
Initial response to the proposal, which did not specify a speed that will be adopted but suggested setting the limiters to 60, 65 or 68, mostly was favorable, but was criticized by groups such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Road Safe America.
ATA initially called the proposal a "potential step forward for safety."
