Before the year is over, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans to publish a proposal to require electronic IDs on commercial motor vehicles.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Spring 2023 Unified Regulatory Agenda, the agency is targeting November to unveil a notice of proposed rulemaking.
“FMCSA requests public comment on potential amendments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to require every commercial motor vehicle operating in interstate commerce to be equipped with an electronic device capable of communicating a unique identification number when queried by a roadside system,” the agency wrote in a summary of the rulemaking.
In 2022, FMCSA opened the rulemaking process by issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that asked the public to comment on the possibility of the requirement. The regulatory agenda indicates that the agency plans to move forward with a formal proposal aimed at “enabling enforcement agencies to focus their efforts at high-risk carriers and drivers.”
Petition
The electronic ID rulemaking proposal reaches back to 2010, when the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance petitioned the agency to mandate the technology in order “to help facilitate efficiency and efficacy in the roadside inspection program.”
In 2013, FMCSA denied the petition because of “the lack of information necessary to estimate the costs and benefits of an electronic identification mandate” to support a federal rulemaking. Attempting to address the agency’s concerns. CVSA filed a petition for reconsideration in 2015.
FMCSA accepted the second petition in November 2015 and said it would initiate a rulemaking. The agency did so in 2022 and now plans to take the next step later this year.
Opposition to the electronic ID proposal
The advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding electronic IDs on trucks garnered more than 2,000 comments. Many of the comments came from individual truck drivers opposed to the requirement, calling it another example of “government overreach.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association formally opposed efforts to require electronic IDs in its November 2022 comments.
OOIDA called the proposal an “unwarranted intrusion” on truckers.
“OOIDA and our members oppose this proposal in the strongest possible terms,” the Association wrote in formal comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “Our members have been extremely clear that this concept is an unwarranted intrusion into their privacy, as well as an overly costly and burdensome requirement that does nothing to improve their efficiency or safety.”
Automated surveillance
The Association also spoke out against electronic IDs and other forms of automated surveillance in a recent letter to the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In May, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises the White House on technology issues, issued a notice asking for feedback from the public “to better understand automated surveillance and management of workers.”
OOIDA told the agency that it is against efforts to place trackers on truckers.
“Due to the absence of any research demonstrating how this technology would improve safety, the motivation for pursuing this rulemaking appears to be nothing more than adding convenience for the enforcement agencies. This creates concerns about the potential for unreasonable search and seizure violation of drivers’ privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” LL
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