NHTSA extends comment deadline on side underride notice

The public will have an additional month to comment on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that analyzes the costs and benefits of side underride guards.

Comments will now be accepted through July 20, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The deadline had been June 20.

On April 21, NHTSA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that aims to “assess the feasibility, benefits, costs and other impacts of installing side underride guards on trailers and semitrailers.” NHTSA’s notice doesn’t formally propose a side underride guard mandate, but it fulfills a directive from Congress to analyze the potential effects.

Huge price tag

Although NHTSA’s research estimates that a side underride requirement would save 17.2 lives and 69 serious injuries annually, the yearly cost of the mandate would be as much as $1.2 billion. According to the notice, the resulting cost per equivalent life saved would fall in the range of $73.5 million to $103.7 million.

Putting it in perspective for motor carriers, NHTSA’s research shows that the average total cost of installing side underride guards on a trailer, including hardware and labor, would be “$2,990 in 2020 dollars.”

Side underride guards also would add to fuel costs. With a weight increase of 450 to 800 pounds per trailer, requiring side underride guards is estimated to increase lifetime fuel costs for new trailers entering the fleet each year by somewhere between $200 million and $430 million, according to NHTSA’s notice.

OOIDA opposes side underride mandate

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association pointed to NHTSA’s own research as a reason it opposes any attempts to mandate side underride guards.

“NHTSA’s latest research once again indicates there is absolutely no reason to mandate side underride guards on commercial trucks,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement. “The rush to mandate every gadget marketed as a safety device over the objections of professional drivers is a major reason crash rates continue to rise. We will not see improvements in highway safety until lawmakers and federal regulators prioritize the expertise of professional drivers above other interest groups. Proponents of side underride guards have never demonstrated how these devices will perform in highway conditions, yet we’re wasting more time reviewing another potential regulatory mandate where the costs outweigh the benefits.”

Requests for additional time

NHTSA extended the comment deadline following requests from the American Trucking Associations and a group of safety advocates.

“A 30-day extension appropriately balances NHTSA’s interest in providing the public with sufficient time to review the docket and comment on the complex questions raised in the advance notice of proposed rulemaking with its interest in obtaining specific feedback from stakeholders in a timely manner,” the agency wrote.

Comments on NHTSA’s side underride guard advance notice of proposed rulemaking can be made here or by going to the Regulations.gov website and entering Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0012.

The agency seeks information regarding the effectiveness of side guards, unexpected costs and benefits and challenges that would be created by a mandate.

OOIDA also has created a campaign on its Fighting for Truckers website and a “Comment Guide” to help members through the process. LL