FMCSA grants warning flag exemption

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced its decision to grant a limited five-year exemption to relieve motor carriers operating stinger steered automobile transporter equipment from the requirement to place warning flags on projecting loads of new motor vehicles.

FMCSA’s decision to grant the exemption request made by the Automobile Carriers Conference of the American Truck Associations was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 15.

The existing regulation requires any commercial motor vehicle transporting a load that extends more than 4 feet beyond the rear of the vehicle 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. It also requires two warning flags if the projecting load is wider than 2 feet, located to indicate the maximum width of loads which extend beyond the sides or rear of the vehicle.

“The Agency has determined that the lack of warning flags on stinger steered automobile transporter equipment when transporting motor vehicles would not have an adverse impact on safety and that adherence to the terms and conditions of the exemption would achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulation,” FMCSA wrote in the notice.

In the exemption request, ACA said the warning flags caused damage to the vehicles.

The exemption is effective until Feb. 15, 2024.