Unnecessary regulation? It’s your chance to tell the DOT

Truck drivers often vent about the amount of regulations they must follow and how many of them do nothing to improve highway safety.

Well, the time has come for truck drivers to do something about it. But the clock is running out.

On April 3, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a notice in the Federal Register asking the public to help identify regulations that can be modified or repealed without hindering safety.

“The Department of Transportation seeks comments and information to assist DOT in identifying existing regulations, guidance, paperwork requirements and other regulatory obligations that can be modified or repealed, consistent with law, to ensure that DOT administrative actions do not undermine the national interest and that DOT achieves meaningful burden reduction while continuing to meet statutory obligations and ensure the safety of the U.S. transportation system,” the notice stated.

The notice opened a 30-day comment, which runs through Monday, May 5. So far, about 600 comments have been submitted.

Comments can be made by going to Regulations.gov and entering Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0026.

The DOT is seeking information on:

• Unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the federal government by the Constitution
• Regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power
• Regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition
• Regulations that implicate matters of social, political or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority
• Regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits
• Regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use and foreign policy objectives
• Regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship

Many of the comments submitted so far have suggested the need for more flexibility in the hours-of service regulations.

“If you are driving 11 hours a day and taking a 30-minute break within the first eight hours and working a total of 14 for the day, there is no need to have the 70-hour rule,” Stacey Dain wrote. “As a driver, I get plenty of rest following the other three rules, not being overworked.”

Others have asked the Trump administration to stop a proposal that would mandate speed limiters on commercial motor vehicles.

“Another rule that has been proposed but not enacted is the speed limiter proposal,” Dwayne Pope wrote. “If enacted, this will destroy many lives, because car drivers have become so impatient and dangerous nowadays. They cut slower-moving vehicles off and perform very dangerous maneuvers to get around trucks. Accidents will increase, and then the FMCSA and DOT will blame trucks and implement more useless regulations.”

In addition to the comment period, the DOT will accept emails on a continuing basis at Transportation.RegulatoryInfo@dot.gov about regulations that could be modified or repealed. Include “Regulatory Reform RFI” in the subject line of the email. LL