Three additional lawmakers have recently voiced their support for the DRIVE Act, a bill designed to prevent commercial trucks from being mandated to use speed limiters.
On April 9, Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., joined HR3039, while Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ted Budd, R-N.C., became co-sponsors of S2671. With their support, the total number of co-sponsors has now reached 41 in the House and 12 in the Senate.
Both versions of the DRIVE Act aim to prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from enforcing any rule or regulation mandating speed limiters.
HR3039 was introduced by Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., in May of last year, while Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., launched S2761 in July. Both lawmakers argue that FMCSA’s attempt to impose speed-limiting devices represents overregulation and disregards states’ authority to set speed limits.
“This overreach by the Biden administration has the potential to negatively impact all facets of the agricultural and trucking industries,” Brecheen said. “I know from experience driving a semi while hauling equipment and years spent hauling livestock that the flow of traffic set by state law is critical for safety, instead of an arbitrary one-size-fits-all speed limit imposed by some bureaucrat sitting at his desk in Washington, D.C. This rule will add one more needless burden, and Congress must stop it.”
In 2022, FMCSA released an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking suggesting the requirement of speed limiters for most commercial motor vehicles weighing 26,001 pounds or more.
This notice generated over 15,000 comments, primarily from truck drivers opposing the mandate. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), representing small-business truckers, contends that such a requirement could compromise safety by creating hazardous speed differentials and increasing the risk of accidents between cars and trucks.
Despite strong opposition from truckers, FMCSA intends to proceed with a notice of proposed rulemaking.
However, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s latest Significant Rulemaking Report, FMCSA’s proposal is expected to be released in May. Yet, the agency has missed two prior target dates, and a proposal has not yet been submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. OMB review, a required step, can take varying durations, ranging from weeks to over a year.
Passing the DRIVE Act would render FMCSA’s rulemaking efforts irrelevant.
Source: Land Line
