Speed limiter fight heating up – where does everyone stand?

April 25, 2023

Mark Schremmer

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Despite opposition from thousands of truck drivers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration appears poised to unveil a proposal that would require speed limiters on most commercial motor vehicles.

Last year, FMCSA issued an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking that considers 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 previous proposals floated the possibilities of 60, 65 and 68 miles per hour.

According to the Regulations.gov website, about 15,600 comments were submitted to the FMCSA in response to the advance notice. An overwhelming majority of the comments were opposed to a mandate.

However, FMCSA is still expected to take the next step in the process later this year. At the FMCSA’s Analysis, Research and Technology Forum in April, an agency representative said a proposed top speed will be included in the next notice. According to the most recent Unified Regulatory Agenda, a notice of proposed rulemaking on speed limiters could be published as early as June.

With the next battle over a speed limiter mandate looming, it’s good to know where many of the organizations involved with trucking stand on the issue. Some of the stances will seem obvious, while others may surprise you.

OOIDA

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is adamantly opposed to any attempts at requiring speed limiters on heavy-duty trucks.

“Small-business truck drivers strongly object to any speed limiter mandate for several other reasons based on their own experiences,” OOIDA wrote in its formal comments to the agency filed in July. “Speed limiters take control of the truck away from drivers, denying them the ability to avoid accidents and unsafe road/traffic conditions. Speed limiters increase driver stress and make drivers more fatigued because they must operate longer hours in order to complete the work expected of them, and they must also operate at the maximum allowed speed for more of those hours.”

The OOIDA Foundation also has been vocal about its concerns regarding speed differentials that would be caused by the mandate. Considering that speed limits are as fast as 85 mph in some parts of the United States and that vehicles have a tendency to go faster than the posted speed limit, a speed limiter mandate of 60 mph for heavy-duty trucks could create a reality where cars are traveling more than 30 mph faster than trucks traveling on the same highway.

 

ATA

The American Trucking Associations supports a speed limiter mandate, but the organization says it doesn’t want the speed to be set too low.

“We have consistently opposed efforts by anti-truck groups to pursue a speed-limiter rule setting speeds in the low 60s,” ATA wrote on its website.

“Official ATA policy supports a maximum set speed of 70 mph in trucks equipped with automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. In trucks without those safety features, our policy supports a maximum set speed of 65 mph.”

ATA, which has taken different stances on speed limiters over the years, noted the concerns about speed differentials in its 2022 comments to the agency.

“ATA previously commented on the potential unintended consequences of speed differentials and reiterates that speed differentials between cars and trucks continue to be of considerable concern to motor carriers and drivers today,” the group wrote. “Speed differentials could result in increased aggressive, unsafe behavior by car drivers seeking to overtake slower vehicles and could increase the number of dangerous passing interactions on the highway. Speed differentials have increased significantly over the years as a result of higher posted speed limits in states.”

Teamsters

According to a search on the Regulations.gov website, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters did not file any formal comments on FMCSA’s advance notice on speed limiters.

However, the Teamsters recently signed on to a letter expressing support for a speed limiter mandate set at 60 mph.

In March, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien’s name is listed on a letter from truck safety groups to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for several technology mandates, including speed limiters.

“Speed limiters, set no higher than 60 mph, must be required by the Department of Transportation on all commercial motor vehicles immediately,” the letter stated.

The letter appears to be a departure from previous Teamster stances on the issue.

FreightWaves reported in 2021 that the Teamsters filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board about a decision by TFI International’s TForce Freight to reduce the maximum speed of its trucks from 68 to 65 mph.

“Changing the speed governors directly impacts employee earning capacity, hours of work, hours of service, and safety, which are all mandatory subjects of bargaining,” Freightwaves reported that the complaint stated.

Speed limiters set at 60 mph also would be in conflict with the United Parcels Service’s stance on the issue. UPS, which is the single largest employer in the Teamsters Union, supports a speed limiter mandate but has concerns about large speed differentials. Most UPS trucks are currently governed at 68 mph, while some that run in states with higher speed limits are set at 72 mph.

“UPS encourages FMCSA to adopt a speed governor limit for heavy duty trucks of 68 mph and to develop an allowance for higher truck speeds of 72 mph where warranted by local road conditions and higher posted speed limits,” the company wrote in its comments to the agency. “Given our experience in commercial fleet operations, UPS concludes that the speed differential scenario that would arise from limiting trucks at a lower rate of speed would actually have a net negative impact on highway safety.”

In 2009, Teamsters Canada opposed a speed limiter mandate in Ontario.

Multiple attempts by Land Line to get the Teamsters to confirm their stance on speed limiters were unsuccessful.

CVSA

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance did not take a stance regarding the speed limiter proposal in its 2022 comments.

“CVSA supports regulations and policies that encourage the deployment of safety technologies proven, through independent research, to improve commercial motor vehicle safety, either through preventing crashes or mitigating their severity,” the group wrote. “However, CVSA does not currently have a position in support of or opposition to a federal speed limiter requirement for commercial motor vehicles.”

TCA

The Truckload Carriers Association’s view on speed limiters mirrors ATA in that it supports 70 mph speed limiters for trucks with adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. Like ATA, the group suggests that speed limiters should be set at 65 mph for trucks without those devices.

Truck Safety Coalition

The Truck Safety Coalition, which guided the letter to Secretary Buttigieg asking for 60 mph speed limiters, is one of the main proponents for a mandate.

In comments filed along with the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition told the agency that a lower top speed will save lives.

“Setting the speed at 60 mph will result in over five times the amount of lives saved and injuries prevented each year compared to 68 mph,” the groups wrote. LL