FMCSA grants another exemption

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was busy granting exemptions this week.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, FMCSA published three notices in the Federal Register announcing that the agency was renewing exemptions to existing regulations.

Those notices included the agency’s final decision to exempt car haulers driving stinger-steered transporter equipment from having to place warning flags on overhanging loads.

Current regulations require any commercial motor vehicle transporting a load that extends more than 4 feet beyond the rear of the vehicle to be marked with a single red or orange fluorescent warning flag at the extreme rear if the projecting load is 2 feet wide or less and two warning flags if the projecting load is wider than 2 feet.

The exemption was requested jointly by the Automobile Carriers Conference of the American Trucking Associations and the Auto Haulers Association of America. FMCSA first granted the exemption in 2019 and then provisionally renewed it in February. With the announcement of FMCSA’s final decision, the exemption will run through Feb. 15, 2029.

“FMCSA is not aware of any evidence indicating that providing relief to motor carriers operating stinger-steered automobile transporter equipment from the requirement to place warning flags on projecting loads of new and used motor vehicles in accordance with the conditions of the original exemption has resulted in any degradation in safety,” the agency wrote in the notice.

The exemption includes several conditions:

• The exemption does not apply to any other type of transporter equipment or other types of projecting or oversized loads.
• Motor carriers operating under the exemption must notify FMCSA of any crash to the rear of the stinger-steered auto transporter equipment within seven business days.
• Vehicles that overhang from the transporter must be equipped with all other lights and reflective devices required by existing regulations.
• Motor carriers and commercial motor vehicles operating under this exemption must comply with all other applicable regulations unless specifically exempted from a requirement.

Other exemption news

FMCSA posted several notices regarding exemptions this week.

In addition to the auto hauler exemption, the agency granted a limited hours-of-service exemption to WestRock and a cargo securement exemption to the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference.

In addition, FMCSA reopened the comment period regarding a request for a sleeper berth exemption. LL