Proposed amendment to THUD bill would ban funding for speed limiters

A proposed amendment to the House Transportation Housing and Urban Development bill would prohibit federal funds from being used to create a mandate for speed limiters.

Sponsored by Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa, the proposal would specifically prohibit any THUD funds from being used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to finalize a notice of proposed rulemaking that would mandate speed limiters in commercial vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. Perry has previously offered similar amendments on past spending bills.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports Perry’s position. The Association has long opposed any effort to mandate speed-limiting devices on commercial trucks, citing research that risks posed by increasing vehicle interactions via speed differentials outweigh any purported safety benefit of slowing down large trucks and buses.

OOIDA opposes mandatory speed limiters, pointing to research that contradicts the feds’ claimed “safety benefits,” as it would force a speed differential between heavy trucks and other vehicles using the highways.

Perry’s proposed amendment is one of several trucking-related proposals that may end up being part of the final appropriations bill. Other potential amendments include proposals to strike a provision that prohibits the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from eliminating the 30-minute rest break from federal regulations and a similar spending amendment that would ban federal dollars from enforcing regulations that require commercial vehicles to be equipped with electronic logging devices.

The House committee is expected to meet Tuesday evening and possibly into Wednesday to determine which amendments will receive floor action.

The THUD bill is being packaged with several other appropriations bills as part of a so-called “minibus” funding package. The package is expected to reach the full house floor for debate later this week.