Two trucking industry trade groups are criticizing a report issued by members of a specially appointed federal committee on trailer side underride protection as lacking in true consensus.

An advisory committee has by a slim majority voted to recommend that NHTSA launch a rulemaking to consider requiring that certain new semitrailers be equipped with side underride guards.

NEW ORLEANS — A senior official at a federal agency offered to help carriers submit their comments, questions and quandaries related to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s work on potentially rewriting regulations for trailer underride guards.

A committee launched by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study side underride protection during its inaugural meeting raised a variety of topic areas to address.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is working with the trucking industry as it revisits a proposal to mandate installation of side underride guards on heavy truck trailers.

Companion bipartisan bills have been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate and House that call for a new regulation that would require trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds to install side underride guards and ensure that rear guards meet an upgraded specified performance standard.