CVSA eyes ‘trackers on trucks’ for next highway bill

The adoption of technology often called “trackers on trucks” is one of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s goals for the next highway bill.

CVSA, a group of local, state and federal officials focused on commercial motor vehicle enforcement, recently shared its legislative priorities. At the top of CVSA’s list is a plan for all new commercial motor vehicles to have a universal electronic vehicle identifier. This would let officials identify vehicles from a short distance.

The group argues that the technology is needed because jurisdictions don’t have the resources to inspect every commercial motor vehicle. The electronic ID would allow enforcement to focus on high-risk carriers and drivers.

“Deployment of this technology would revolutionize the way commercial motor vehicle roadside monitoring, inspection and enforcement are conducted, exponentially growing the program and improving roadway safety,” CVSA wrote. “A manufacturing requirement on all new commercial motor vehicles would complement the existing prescreening technologies deployed by some jurisdictions that currently utilize a voluntary motor carrier participation model.”

CVSA also advocated for electronic vehicle identifiers earlier this year in submitted comments to the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

“Electronic identification of commercial motor vehicles will expand the footprint of enforcement and allow inspectors to better identify and prioritize vehicles with safety concerns, removing unsafe vehicles and drivers from the nation’s roadways,” the group wrote. “For example, requiring that all commercial motor vehicles be equipped with a universal electronic vehicle identifier would significantly improve enforcement’s ability to identify drivers operating under a federal out-of-service order, helping to remove unsafe operators from the roadways more effectively.”

Opposition

The push to mandate trackers on trucks isn’t a new one. CVSA first petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to mandate the tech in 2010.

In 2022, FMCSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that considered requiring all interstate commercial motor vehicles to have an electronic ID.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and individual truckers immediately opposed the proposal, saying it would not improve safety and would violate the privacy of truck drivers.

“OOIDA and our members oppose this proposal in the strongest possible terms,” the Association wrote in comments signed by President Todd Spencer. “Our members have been extremely clear that this concept is an unwarranted intrusion into their privacy, as well as an overly costly and burdensome requirement that does nothing to improve their efficiency or safety.”

In all, the advance notice received more than 2,000 comments. Many of the comments came from individual truckers who cited concerns about privacy and government overreach.

The opposition was strong enough that FMCSA moved the rulemaking to the back burner in 2023, and no action has been taken since.

Now, CVSA is hoping it can force the agency’s hand by getting Congress to sign the electronic ID mandate into law. LL