Article Summary
Trucking news and briefs for Monday, July 13, 2026:
- House bill looks to make sure EPA doesn’t roll back DEF derate guidance for a decade.
- Operation Safe Driver Week -- which states issue the most moving violations?
- More truck parking in this East Coast state.
Congress looks to enshrine EPA’s DEF-related guidance for next 10 years
On the same day the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to end engine derates related to diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) faults, members of Congress introduced a bill that would create a 10-year “safe harbor” window for DEF-related guidance issued by EPA in 2025 and 2026.
EPA’s notice of proposed rulemaking introduced Thursday, as reported, would do away with DEF derates altogether and get rid of extended warranty requirements that are due to take effect with model year 2027 engines.
The Diesel Engine Flexibility Act (DEF Act) was introduced July 9 by Reps. Julie Fedorchak (R-North Dakota), Don Davis (D-North Carolina), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minnesota), Jack Bergman (R-Michigan), and Brad Finstad (R-Minnesota).
"Farmers, truckers and equipment operators depend on reliable equipment to keep our economy moving. They shouldn't be sidelined by faulty sensors or unnecessary shutdowns that have nothing to do with actual emissions," Fedorchak said. "The DEF Act brings commonsense certainty by preserving the EPA's updated guidance in law while creating a stable regulatory framework for the next decade. It gives manufacturers, operators and independent technicians the certainty they need to invest, innovate and keep equipment running without sacrificing emissions performance."
[Related: Cummins, Paccar the latest engine makers ending 5-mph DEF derates]
According to bill sponsors, the DEF Act aims to strengthen monitoring capabilities, limit engine shutdown and performance reductions, and give independent technicians the legal clarity to service their customers’ equipment. EPA guidance covered by the bill includes the August 2025 guidance that directed engine manufacturers to do away with 5-mph DEF-related derates, and March 2026 guidance that removed DEF sensor requirements in favor of more reliable sensors.
Perhaps most notably, the bill would prevent EPA under future administrations from making new rules under the 10-year period that are “more stringent than the 2007 standards and the 2010 standards,” the bill states.
If passed, the new legislation would:
- Create a 10-year statutory safe harbor for EPA diesel emissions guidance issued in 2025 and 2026
- Allow EPA to continue approving software updates, diagnostic improvements, recalls and other administrative actions consistent with the guidance
- Require future emissions standards to include meaningful lead times, including at least three model years of applicability and five years before taking effect
- Direct EPA to consider reducing unnecessary shutdowns, derates, and operational disruptions when developing future emissions regulations after the 10-year safe harbor period
Without congressional action, these improvements remain subject to future administrative changes, the sponsors noted.
Let Overdrive know what you think about EPA's latest proposal:
[Related: EPA to end DEF derates, roll back emissions warranty reg]
Operation Safe Driver Week under way
Law enforcement agencies across North America on Sunday kicked off Operation Safe Driver Week, a seven-day traffic enforcement and safe driving awareness initiative focusing on driving behaviors of both commercial and passenger vehicle operators.
From July 12-18, law enforcement personnel will be monitoring drivers for high-risk driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, improper lane changes, failure to use a seat belt, impaired driving, fatigued driving, failure to obey traffic control devices, and etc. Drivers operating unsafely may receive a warning or citation/ticket.
Late last month, Overdrive checked in with Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Christopher Brooks to talk about ways owner-operators could prep for the weeklong enforcement effort:
This year’s Operation Safe Driver Week campaign places special emphasis on reckless, careless and dangerous driving behaviors. Overdrive recently published rankings of state truck enforcement departments looking at moving violations issued as a percent of the total, according to sister data company RigDig's accounting. The ankings offer a look at which states are generally most keen on identifying those risky driving behaviors.
In addition to enforcement activities, Operation Safe Driver Week is also about educating drivers on safe driving practices and the consequences of unsafe driving, CVSA noted.
[Related: The future at 70 mph: AI trucks, because they can, not that we should]
Maryland expands I-70 truck parking
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration recently completed construction on a project to expand the number of parking spaces for tractor-trailers and large vehicles at the I-70 (Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway) South Mountain Welcome Centers near Myersville in Frederick County.
The $8.6 million project began construction in late summer 2024 to add a total of 25 new parking spaces: 15 spaces at the eastbound I-70 rest area and 10 spaces at the WB rest area. The South Mountain Welcome Center’s truck rest areas now offer a total of 74 parking spaces, Maryland DOT said.
The department noted that in a 2020 review of its facilities statewide, results found the I-70 South Mountain Welcome Center has the highest proportion of trucks parked more than eight hours in Maryland and is often at capacity in the truck rest areas.
Maryland tied as the ninth overall state for worst truck parking in the U.S. in Overdrive’s 2025 Truckers’ Highway Report Card survey of best and worst states for highway conditions and truck parking availability.
[Related: Truckers' Highway Report Card: Best and worst states, metros, parking]
