Proposed Rule for Heavy-Truck Speed Limiter Sent to OMB
A proposed rule to require the installation and use of speed-limiting devices on heavy trucks has been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.
The joint National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposal, forwarded to OMB on May 19, is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Aug. 27.
The proposed rule would then be open for public comment for 60 days, until Oct. 28.
The request for the mandate dates to 2006, when American Trucking Associations and Roadsafe America sent petitions to FMCSA calling for adoption of the regulatory requirement.
ATA is asking that the mandate also require truckers to set the limiters to a top speed of 65 mph. The agencies have not said what maximum speed they will propose.
The agencies say that based on available safety data and the ancillary benefit of reduced fuel consumption, this rulemaking would have minimal cost and decrease fatal crashes annually involving vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds on roads with posted speed limits of 55 mph or above.
