Regulatory Roadmap 2022

The Institute for Safer Trucking is releasing our 2022 Regulatory Roadmap for the Biden Administration. Below are regulations that should be reintroduced, finalized, or reviewed by the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to improve truck safety throughout the United States.

As the public awaits the release of the 2020 data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the early estimates show that truck crash deaths remain devastatingly high. The solutions exists and the Administration has several avenues available to them that can prevent truck crashes, reduce injuries, and save lives. We hope this roadmap offers them guidance in their drive to make our roads safer.

Regulatory Roadmap 2022

Reintroduce:

Financial Responsibility for Motor Carriers, Freight Forwarders, and Brokers

Docket No.: FMCSA-2014-0211

Status: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (79 FR 70839), withdrawn on 06/05/2017 (82 FR 25753)

IST’s Recommendation: Reintroduce rulemaking and raise amount from $750,000 to $5,000,000 for For-Hire Interstate General Freight Carriers.

Relevant Research/Data:

·       Potential Damages in Heavy Truck Crashes (Miller 2013)

Additional Documents:

·       Background on Legislative History of Minimum Insurance (Institute for Safer Trucking 2020)

Sleep Apnea Screening Criteria for Medical Examiners to Screen Drivers

Docket No.: FMCSA-2015-0419

Status: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (81 FR 12642), withdrawn on 08/08/2017 (82 FR 37038)

IST’s Recommendation: Reintroduce rulemaking and require sleep apnea screening for drivers operating CMVs in interstate commerce. Incorporate recommendations from MRB and MCSAC.

Relevant Research/Data:

• Nonadherence with Employer-Mandated Sleep Apnea Treatment and Increased Risk of Serious Truck Crashes (Burks et al., 2016)

• Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening and Treatment in the United States: An Update and Recommendation Overview (Colvin and Collop, 2016)

• Truck Driver Fatigue Management Survey (FMCSA 2006)

Additional Documents:

• MCSAC-MRB Meeting Minutes October 2016

Finalize:

Speed Limiting Devices

Docket No.: NHTSA-2016-0087 and FMCSA-2014-0083

Status: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (81 FR 61942), Long Term Action Item (See Unified Agenda Fall 2021)

IST’s Recommendation: Final rule to require the use of speed limiters in class 7 & 8 trucks (see language in H.R. 3523).

Relevant Research/Data:

• Research on the Safety Impacts of Speed Limiter Device Installations on Commercial Motor Vehicles: Phase II (FMCSA 2012)

• Ex-post evaluation of Directive 92/6/EEC on the installation and use of speed limitation devices for certain categories of motor vehicles in the Community, as amended by Directive 2002/85/EC (European Commission, Directorate-general for Mobility and Transport 2013)

Additional Documents:

• National Survey of Likely Voters conducted by McLaughlin and Associates in September 2018

Heavy Vehicle Forward Crash Avoidance and Mitigation Systems

Docket No.: NHTSA-2015-0099

Status: Petition for rulemaking granted October 16, 2015 (80 FR 62487). No further action taken by NHTSA.

IST’s Recommendation: Introduce Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require automatic emergency braking on all new class 7 & 8 trucks (26,001-lbs or more). Begin Congressionally-mandated study on AEB on all new class 3-6 trucks (10,001-lbs – 26,000-lbs).

Relevant Research/Data:

• Effectiveness of Front Crash Prevention Systems in Reducing Large Truck Crash Rates (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2020)

• Research and Testing to Accelerate Voluntary Adoption of Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) on Commercial Vehicles (FMCSA 2020)

• Cost and Weight Analysis of Heavy Vehicle Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) Systems for Heavy Trucks (NHTSA 2018)

• A Target Population for Automatic Emergency Braking in Heavy Vehicles (NHTSA 2017)

• Leveraging Large-Truck Technology and Engineering to Realize Safety Gains: Automatic Emergency Braking (AAA Foundation 2017)

• The Use of Forward Collision Avoidance Systems to Prevent and Mitigate Rear-End Crashes (NTSB 2015)

• Crash Avoidance Potential of Four Large Truck Technologies (Jermakian 2012)

Additional Documents:

• Testimony of Dr. Christopher B. Lofgren, Chief Executive Officer of Schneider National at Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Hearing on February 15, 2017, Moving America: Stakeholder Perspectives on our Multimodal Transportation System

Review:

Exemptions – Flashing Amber/Red Lights in Addition to Steady Burning Break Lamps

Docket No.: FMCSA-2021-0059 (Waste Management Inc.), FMCSA-2019-0260 (National Tank Truck Carriers), and FMCSA-2020-0122 (Grote Industries, LLC)

Status: Grant of Exemption

IST’s Recommendation: Broaden efforts to use technology to improve truck conspicuity to prevent rear and side underride collisions with large trucks and trailers.

Exemptions Granted

• Limited 5-year exemptions to Waste Management Inc., National Tank Truck Carriers Inc. and Grote to allow motor carriers to install red or amber brake-activated pulsating lamps on the rear of the trailers, in addition to the steady-burning brake lamps required by the FMCSRs.

Value of Statistical Life

The Department of Transportation should continue to update the Value of Statistical Life in U.S. Department of Transportation Analyses annually.  

Introduce:

Underride Protections

The Department of Transportation should quickly establish the Congressionally mandated Advisory Committee on Underride Protection.

Additionally, the DOT should also immediately begin the conducting Congressionally mandated research on:

• The design and development of rear impact guards that can:

  • Prevent underride crashes in cases in which the passenger motor vehicle is traveling at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour; and

  • Protect passengers in passenger motor vehicles against severe injury in crashes in which the passenger motor vehicle is traveling at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.

• side underride guards to better understand the overall effectiveness of side underride guards, and in doing so

  • assess the feasibility, benefits, and costs of, and any impacts on intermodal equipment, freight mobility (including port operations), and freight capacity associated with, installing side underride guards on newly manufactured trailers and semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more;

  • consider the unique structural and operational aspects of

    • intermodal chassis (as defined in section 340.2 of title 46, Code of Federal Regulations); and

    • pole trailers (as defined in section 390.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations).

Lastly, the Institute for Safer Trucking urges the DOT to develop performance standards for side underride guards.