The trucking industry is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) – an agency that proposes and implements regulations with the goal of ensuring the safety of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to help prevent truck accidents that leave people injured or killed.
Earl Adams, an attorney and former deputy administrator at the agency, discussed the prospects of three proposed regulations set to move forward in 2025.
Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS)
One proposed rule would require carriers to notify the federal government if they plan to operate trucks using Level 4 and Level 5 automation – in other words, trucks that can operate independently without a human driver behind the wheel.
In Level 4, or high automation, trucks can often operate independently, for example, on highways, but may require a human driver in complex driving scenarios. In Level 5, or high automation, trucks can operate autonomously in all conditions, and no human driver is required.
The proposed rule is on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s calendar for rollout in December.
Considerations include the higher costs for training and certifying individuals to perform enhanced inspections for higher levels of automation, as well as the financial impact of sidelining trucks for these additional inspections.
Adams says, “We were willing to establish guardrails – that is, an actual rule – as opposed to letting the industry dictate what would happen,” regarding autonomous vehicles but notes the rule faces challenges due to concerns from labor.
Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)
A final rule on automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems for heavy trucks is scheduled for January, a joint effort by the FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It would require all trucks over 10,000 pounds to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system and an electronic stability control (ESC) system.
The National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC), which represents small-business motor carriers, claims that technology mandates such as AEB will lead to increased costs for shippers and consumers and says the technology has not been perfected.
“I’ll be looking to see if they actually move forward on that,” said Adams. “We have a braking rule in place now for passenger cars, but we saw an opportunity to work hand in glove with NHTSA to extend that to trucking.”
Speed limiters
Smaller truck owners and owner-operators have criticized the rule and say that limiting speeds would make it more difficult to compete with larger carriers – many of which already use speed-limiting devices in their fleets. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also contends the devices are unsafe due to speed differentials with other vehicles on the highway.
Adams notes that FMCSA received a lot of criticism for the speed limiter proposed rule but said the agency was motivated by safety concerns.
“What was on our mind was the fact that we have 40,000 deaths on the highways per year, with 3,000 coming from commercial trucks, and a large percentage of those were speed-related,” he said. “So if we can use technology to limit the speed and thus can save lives — that’s the reason we took this on and are so committed to trying to solve it.”
A national reputation for fighting for truck accident victims
The experienced truck accident attorneys at Fried Goldberg LLC have a thorough understanding of the complexities of trucking litigation and stay up to date on changes to federal rules that affect the trucking industry.
When there’s an accident that leaves people hurt or killed, our firm investigates to get the facts. We hold drivers and trucking companies accountable for their negligence, including any violations of FMCSA regulations. And we fight to get maximum compensation for victims and their families.
If you or a loved one was injured in a truck collision, contact us to schedule a free consultation.
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