DRIVE Act would put speed limiter issue to rest

For nearly a decade, there has been a political game of tug-of-war in regard to whether speed limiters should be mandated on commercial motor vehicles.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first issued a joint proposal to require speed-limiting devices in 2016, while Democratic President Barack Obama was in office.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, first took office in January 2017. Soon after, the speed limiter rulemaking was left off the spring 2017 regulatory agenda.

Under Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, FMCSA resurrected the effort in 2022.

Although no official announcement had been made as of press time in early May, Trump is expected to again take the proposal off the table.

However, a member of Congress has introduced a bill to end the political game and create certainty for the nation’s truck drivers, who largely oppose a speed limiter mandate.

Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., reintroduced the DRIVE Act, HR2819, on April 10. The Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles and Eighteen Wheelers Act would prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from issuing any rule or regulation that requires speed limiters on large commercial motor vehicles.

“Under the Biden Administration, we saw blatant federal overreach that would have required speed limiters as low as 60 mph for heavy-duty vehicles,” Brecheen said. “I have spent years hauling heavy equipment and materials in a semi. I know from experience that road safety is best maintained by keeping with the flow of traffic as determined by state law, not on a one-size-fits-all mandate enforced by Washington bureaucrats. The DRIVE Act ensures future administrations cannot revive this dangerous rule.”

Opposition to speed limiters

Opponents of FMCSA’s speed limiter proposal argue that the rule would create unnecessary congestion and dangerous speed differentials between large trucks and passenger vehicles, resulting in increased vehicle interactions and crashes.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the DRIVE Act.

“Nobody understands and appreciates road safety more than truck drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “We want to get to our destination as safely as possible just like everyone else on the road. A federal speed limiter mandate would force trucks to speeds below the flow of traffic, increasing interactions between vehicles and leading to more crashes. It would be like an obstacle course for passenger vehicle drivers on our highways. OOIDA and our 150,000 members in small-business trucking across America thank Rep. Brecheen for his leadership in working to keep our roadways safe for truckers and for all road users by fighting to prevent a speed limiter mandate.”

In 2022, FMCSA issued an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking that considered requiring commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more to be equipped with speed-limiting devices. A top speed was not determined in the advance notice, but safety groups advocated for a top speed of 60 mph. Doing so would force trucks to travel as much as 25 mph slower than the speed limit on some U.S. highways. In slower zones, such as construction zones, speed limiters could motivate truck drivers to make up for lost time.

The proposal received more than 15,000 comments, and the majority of those came from truck drivers who oppose a mandate. Although the overwhelming amount of opposition did not stop the previous administration from moving forward with the rulemaking, it did prevent the administration from finalizing a rule before its term was over.

OOIDA is not alone in its opposition to a speed limiter mandate. A coalition of 17 organizations, including OOIDA, told Trump in January that a speed limiter mandate would be “bad for road safety, driver retention and supply chain performance.” The coalition represents several industries that would be subject to a mandate, including agriculture, construction and materials, along with small, medium and large trucking companies.

As of press time, the DRIVE Act had 21 co-sponsors in the house. Additionally, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was in the process of reintroducing the Senate version of the bill.

“We don’t want this back-and-forth every time there’s a change in administrations,” said Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs. “What the DRIVE Act would do is let Congress assert its authority on this issue and tell FMCSA simply that you’re not going to move forward with this rulemaking. So, this really is an opportunity to put this issue to rest once and for all.” LL