Federal regulators surely ruffled some feathers this week after publishing on Monday the FMCSA's intent to pursue a speed limiter mandate at 68 mph, and then quickly retracted it before the end of the day.
But even that first glimpse of the all important number (speed limiter talk has gone around for years, but never with any mention of a specific number) sent ripples through the trucking industry, especially among drivers. Remember, the speed limiter Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) saw 15,000 comments collected, probably the second-most commented-on ANPRM in FMCSA's history, and heavily negative on the driver's side.
Truckload Carriers Association Vice President of Government Affairs David Heller urged caution with reading the tea leaves around the mention of 68 mph.
[Related: Speed limiters: How fast is too fast?]
"Without official notice, it’s still kind of speculation at this point," he said, noting that regulators "didn't publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, just an update of their regulatory agenda."
"Without the 68 number officially appearing in the register as that," Heller said, the mention of 68 mph "raises more questions than it answers." An official notice would contain "pages of information" getting into the "nitty gritty" of speed limiters, and whether or not FMCSA will allow some flexibility to the 68 mph number.
TCA supports a speed limit for trucks at 65, or up to 70 if the trucks have advanced features like adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. Most drivers take the opposite view.
