DOT officially pulls speed limiter rulemaking

It’s official. The U.S. Department of Transportation has withdrawn a proposal to mandate speed limiters on commercial motor vehicles.

The news is a little anticlimactic, as the DOT already announced its intentions to do so in late June. However, the lack of surprise doesn’t make the news any less significant for the thousands of truck drivers who openly opposed attempts to slow trucks down below the posted speed limit on many of the nation’s highways.

The Biden administration published a notice in 2022 that considered requiring speed limiters on most commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds. Truck safety groups called for a top speed of 60 mph – even though trucks would be traveling on highways with speed limits as fast as 80 and 85 mph.

Truck drivers united in opposition. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration received more than 15,000 comments on the advance notice. Most of the comments came from truck drivers, who raised concerns about dangerous speed differentials, road rage and the inability to accelerate to avoid a crash.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association helped rally truck drivers to stop a potential speed limiter mandating, issuing multiple Calls to Action and leading a coalition of trade organizations.

“Studies and research have already proven what we were all taught long ago in driver’s ed classes – that traffic is safest when vehicles all travel at the same relative speed,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in 2022. “Limiting trucks to speeds below the flow of traffic increases interactions between vehicles, which can lead to more crashes.”

The withdrawal

In a notice that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, July 24, FMCSA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pulled the rulemaking.

“In light of significant policy and safety concerns and continued data gaps that create considerable uncertainty about the estimated costs, benefits and other impacts of the proposed rule, FMCSA and NHTSA have decided to withdraw the proposal,” the notice stated.

OOIDA celebrated the DOT’s decision to kill the speed limiter proposal.

“The old ways of doing things in Washington are over,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh said. “After nearly 20 years, big trucking’s proposed speed limiter mandate is dead. This failed proposal represented the worst of Washington and the worst of trucking: big corporations trying to use big government to undercut small businesses and increase corporate profits. Not only would this proposal have harmed working-class Americans – small-business truckers in our communities – it would have made our highways less safe for all motorists. We thank Secretary (Sean) Duffy and the Trump Administration for prioritizing safety, small-business truckers, and common sense.”

The fight isn’t over

The good news for truckers is that a speed limiter mandate is off the table through the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.

However, OOIDA wants to end the proposal for good. That’s why the Association is encouraging lawmakers to support the DRIVE Act, which would prohibit FMCSA from issuing any rule or regulation mandating speed limiters.

Without the DRIVE Act, there is the potential for the proposal to be resurrected when a new president takes office. The DRIVE Act would help end the game of political ping pong over speed limiters that started in 2016.

“The good news is that Secretary Duffy was able to move quickly through executive department action to change this (rulemaking),” Sen. Steve Daines told Trucking with OOIDA’s Scott Thompson. “The bad news is that the next administration, if it’s on the left side of the teeter-totter … could put it back in place. By passing the (DRIVE Act), it would codify it – and that will give us assurance that no matter who is in charge in the White House, this regulation would not exist.” LL