From the truckers
When a government agency proposes a new regulation, it is required to give the public an opportunity to comment. Additionally, the agency is required to read all of the comments and to address any legitimate concerns raised before moving forward with a final rule.
This is an opportunity that truckers should utilize. There are no better highway safety experts than the men and women who operate a tractor-trailer every day. So whether the government is cooking up a new regulation or just asking for feedback on a potential problem, it is so important that truck drivers weigh in.
Here are a few comments from truck drivers who did so:
On EPA’s Greenhouse Gas rule for heavy-duty vehicles
This proposed rule is a pie-in-the-sky fantasy, which will do nothing to sway the natural world climate that has been evolving for billions of years. The rule will only cause hardship to consumers and end independent truckers.
On a proposal to mandate automatic emergency braking systems on heavy-duty trucks:
AEBs are not effective enough to put into use on the roads, certainly not to mandate. They engage on “false positives” too often, and we need to NOT have anything that causes big rigs to “throw on the brakes” without warning or cause.
The AEB systems are very dangerous. They currently at random times traveling down the road will come to a sudden stop on the highways. A bird strike to the sensor will also make the truck come to a sudden stop, as well as buildup of bug debris. Snow will trigger the sensor to make the truck come to a sudden stop as well. The brake systems should be outlawed, as they are a danger to public safety because the trucks are unpredictable when they suddenly brake for no reason, no matter the volume of traffic around the truck, leading to a major/fatal crash on the highways. No matter what the techs say (about) how safe they are, the random sudden stops will lead to crashes and fatalities on the nation’s highways.
On the possibility of FMCSA removing the ELD exemption for pre-2000 trucks:
The job of the FMCSA is to advance highway safety. When the FMCSA implemented the ELD rules, it exempted vehicles with pre-2000 engines. To my knowledge, there have not been any problems with these vehicles causing injury-related crashes. Therefore to repeal the exemption for pre-2000 engines will do nothing to advance highway safety.
Owner-operators running under the exemption are the absolute safest on the road. There is zero reason to change the rule. You need to stop letting groups like the ATA influence your decision-making.
The only revision that needs to happen to ELDs is to remove them. Matter of fact, do completely away with hours-of-service regulations altogether. It’s stupid. We are smart enough to know when we are tired and need to pull over and take a break. We do not need the government to tell us when to do so. Whether the FMCSA wants to admit it or not, your ELD mandate did NOT make the roads any safer.
On a proposal to require speed limiters on commercial motor vehicles:
This idea is horrible. You all need to ride in a truck for a week. You would then see the real side of trucks. Just because it looks good on paper, it doesn’t mean it’s safe. If all trucks are going the same speed, cars will get mad and try to get around no matter the risk they take. It’s a very bad idea and will further cripple the industry. So many of us will leave the industry and park the trucks.
John Cochran LL