WASHINGTON — A proposed rule to mandate equipment aimed at preventing deaths in collisions between trucks and passenger cars — if such a rule is forthcoming at all — likely will not see action until at least October 2024.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s rulemaking on side underride guards on trailers and semitrailers will be in an “analyzing comments” stage for the next 10 months, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s fall regulatory agenda submitted this week to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The public comments were filed over a 90-day period immediately following an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published by NHTSA in April.
While rule timelines set in agency agendas can change as administration priorities change, they typically will be pushed back, not speeded up. That means if NHTSA decides to move to the next stage in the rulemaking process — a formal notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) — for side underride guards, it could be at least a year away.
NHTSA has been under pressure to either significantly revise the proposal before formally issuing a rulemaking, or shelve it entirely, after receiving feedback from both truck safety advocates and truck industry lobbying groups.
The agency estimates that requiring guards along the sides of trailers to prevent passenger cars from sliding underneath in a collision would boost the cost of a new trailer by approximately $3,740 to $4,630, with total annual cost projected at $970 million to $1.2 billion.
But safety and insurance groups argue that NHTSA’s determination of approximately 17 lives saved and 69 serious injuries prevented each year if underride guards were mandated is significantly underestimated.
FMCSA: Driver seizure disorders, sexual harassment
OMB’s latest agenda also lists two first-time rules to be published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2024.
An ANPRM on the minimum training requirements for entry-level commercial motor vehicle operators will “seek information from stakeholders regarding ways in which FMCSA can enhance the physical safety of women truck drivers and trainees and address the negative impacts of workplace sexual harassment,” according to an abstract of the advance rule, which is scheduled to publish in June 2024.
It notes that the ANPRM would also seek information from commenters on ways FMCSA “can enhance the safety of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists.”
FMCSA plans to publish an NPRM on a driver seizure standard in July 2024, according to the agenda, that would update driver qualification standards for operating a commercial truck for those with epilepsy or other conditions that can cause loss of consciousness while driving.
“FMCSA proposes to reduce the burden on individuals who have experienced a seizure, or who have been prescribed antiseizure medication provided certain criteria are satisfied,” the rule summary says.
“The criteria would mirror those used for the Agency’s Seizure Exemption Program, including a requirement for the drivers to obtain documentation from the treating neurologist that the individual has been seizure free for a period of several years.”
Unique ID rulemaking gone
A controversial proposal to require all trucks to be outfitted with a unique identification number has apparently been canceled.
The ANPRM, which received over 2,000 comments after it was published in November 2022 and which would have overhauled roadside inspections, was rejected by much of the trucking industry while supported by truck safety groups.
FMCSA had scheduled a full NPRM for the proposal in November, according to DOT’s spring agenda, but the proposal was dropped from the latest agenda.