Speed limiters contradict driver retention goals, OOIDA says

If the goal is to make trucking a more attractive profession, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says that requiring speed limiters is not the way to achieve it.

OOIDA submitted comments on July 18 in regard to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s advance notice of supplemental rulemaking that proposing a speed limiter mandate for most commercial motor vehicles.

The Association used its comments to echo many of the concerns truck drivers have over a mandate, including the dangers of speed differentials, inability to accelerate to avoid crashes and being the victim of road rage incidents.

Contradictory proposal

However, OOIDA also emphasized that a speed limiter mandate would be in direct conflict to the administration’s goal of recruiting and retaining more truck drivers. Out of the nearly 16,000 comments submitted to the docket, numerous truck drivers said they will leave the industry if they are forced to use speed limiters.

In December 2021, the White House unveiled The Trucking Action Plan, which aims to ensure that trucking jobs are good, safe and stable through policies that improve driver recruitment and retention.

“Nothing in the Trucking Action Plan mentions anything about speed limiters or describes how a speed limiter mandate for commercial trucks would make trucking jobs more attractive,” OOIDA wrote.

The Association also noted that the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy does not suggest mandatory speed limiters for commercial motor vehicles.

“OOIDA agrees that speed limiting devices do not belong in these administrative policies and vehemently opposes mandatory speed limiters because they are counterproductive to highway safety, will exacerbate supply chain challenges and won’t help retain or recruit drivers,” the Association wrote.

If the Department of Transportation truly wants to retain its safest and most experienced drivers, OOIDA said it should ease back on some of the regulations that drive truckers out of the industry.

“DOT has spoken about the need to make trucking a more viable and sustainable career for those entering the industry and the millions of Americans already making their living behind the wheel,” OOIDA wrote. “These goals must be accomplished through a more practical, less burdensome regulatory approach rather than a heavy-handed speed limiter mandate that would limit the profitability of small-business truckers.”

Opposition to speed limiters

In addition to thousands of individual truck drivers who wrote in opposition of speed limiters, many organizations also opposed the requirement. Those organizations include OOIDA, the Kansas Livestock Association, Montana Trucking Association, United Motorcoach Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, Livestock Marketing Association, National Rule Electric Cooperative Association, American Public Power Association, International Association of Movers, Agricultural Retailers Association, and many others.

Proponents

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, The Law Firm for Truck Safety and the Truckload Carriers Association are among the organizations that support a mandate.

Next steps

FMCSA’s proposal looked at requiring most commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of at least 26,001 pounds to be speed limited. The advance notice didn’t include a speed, but 60, 65 and 68 mph have been floated in previous proposals.

The agency will review the thousands of comments before deciding what to do next. A previous speed limiter proposal was shelved for years.

For now, FMCSA’s speed limiter proposal remains in its long-term actions. A notice of proposed rulemaking would likely hit the Federal Register in the summer of 2023.

Informational video

OOIDA has produced a video published on YouTube titled “Truckers: Speed limiters on large trucks make roads dangerous for all highway users” addressing concerns about speed limiters. LL