Washington — Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) has reintroduced legislation aimed at preventing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from mandating speed-limiting devices on large trucks and buses.
Reintroduced in the House on April 10, the Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles and Eighteen-Wheelers (DRIVE) Act (H.R. 2819) would apply to trucks, buses and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.
The Department of Transportation’s Spring 2024 regulatory agenda – released in July under the Biden administration – lists May as a target publication date for FMCSA’s May 2022 notice of proposed rulemaking.
FMCSA’s second advance NPRM expanded on a 2016 joint proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and FMCSA. The latter is the lone agency listed on the ANPRM, which doesn’t suggest a top speed. The 2016 proposal specified capping speeds at 60, 65 or 68 mph.
Stakeholders submitted nearly 16,000 comments on the updated ANPRM.
In a press release, Brecheen, a fourth-generation rancher and former trucking company operator, called the proposal “blatant overreach” by the previous administration.
“Safety is enhanced in keeping with the flow of traffic as set by state law, not on a one-size-fits-all regulation enforced by bureaucrats in Washington,” he said. “The DRIVE Act will ensure a future administration cannot revive this dangerous rule.”
Multiple industry groups support the legislation. In that same release, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer said a federal speed limiter mandate “would force trucks to speeds below the flow of traffic, increasing interactions between vehicles and leading to more crashes.”
The American Trucking Associations has supported FMCSA’s proposal.
Similar legislation introduced in 2023, H.R. 3039 and S. 2671, didn’t advance past committee in either the House or Senate.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication