Speed Limiter Action Required in Senate Transportation Bill
Tucked in a Senate-passed fiscal 2017 transportation funding bill is a provision calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to advance a rule on speed limiters for trucks.
Specifically, the legislation would give DOT six months to issue a final rule for which members of Congress and industry leaders have sought.
Earlier this year, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) pressed Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to proceed with a speed limiter requirement. Foxx indicated to Collins and other senators he anticipated the agencies of jurisdiction to provide an update on the matter in the not-so-distant future.
The joint effort between the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is meant to decrease fatal crashes on roadways. American Trucking Associations has asked the agencies that the mandate require truckers to set the limiters to a top speed of 65 mph.
The Senate bill passed 89-8 on May 19. A House committee is considering a version of the bill May 24.
