U.S. Government Seeks to Impose Lower Speeds on Heavy Vehicles

Written by: Ashley Gowder Mitchell, Esq.

The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are seeking to forcibly limit how fast commercial vehicles can travel on the nation’s highways.

On August 26th, the NHTSA and FMCSA jointly proposed a rule that would impose a nationwide speed limit on newly made U.S. vehicles that weigh more than 26,000 pounds. The current proposal calls for electronic devices termed “speed limiters” to cap maximum truck speeds at 60, 65 or 68 mph miles per hour. Commercial motor carriers would be responsible for maintaining the speed limiters at or below the designated speed for the life of the vehicle. The regulation has the support of the American Trucking Associations, the largest trucking industry trade group, and several of the largest carriers in the nation.

One exception to the current proposal is that older heavy trucks are not required to be retro-fitted to add the speed limiters. Speed limiting technology works with a truck engine’s electronic control module (“ECM”) to govern how fast the vehicle can travel, which is an issue with older models that do not have ECMs. The NHTSA determined it would be to too costly to retrofit older vehicles and some vehicles made before 1990 do not even have the capacity to add the technology.  However, this exception could change depending on the public’s input.

Proponents of the rule applaud it as a safety measure that will reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roadway. The rule could also save the industry an estimated $1 billion in fuel costs. Opponents of the rule complain that such changes could actually lead to an increased number of crashes due to speed differentials and likelihood of increased interactions between vehicles. Governing can create a hazard when trucks running side-by-side cannot pass each other and wind up creating congestion, which then can lead to more crashes as passenger vehicles slow for traffic.

The regulation’s details will be published in Federal Register next week. The agencies will take public comment for 60 days and will consider other speed caps based on input. Then, the agencies will determine the final speed cap limits and decide if the regulation should be put in place. The regulation will likely not take effect until late 2018.