
In 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted Grote Industries a five-year exemption that allows motor carriers to install amber brake-activated pulsating warning lamps on the rear of their trailers.
Grote said that since then, the stop lamp has been installed on more than 80,000 vehicles that have traveled more than 250 million miles. The company added that the device has yielded positive results, pointing to a 33% reduction in rear-end crashes from a large national fleet customer.
With the original exemption expiring on Dec. 2 of this year, Grote recently asked FMCSA for a five-year renewal that would run until December 2030.
The exemption allows trucking companies to install the warning lamps in addition to the steady-burning brake lights that federal regulations require.
“Grote states that its commitment to safety remains unchanged and emphasized that in the five years since the original exemption was granted, the use of Grote’s amber brake-activated warning lamps on the rear of trailers and van body trucks in addition to the steady-burning brake lamps required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations has demonstrated a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, that provided by the regulation,” FMCSA wrote in an exemption request notice on Jan. 17.
The agency is accepting comments on the Indiana-based company’s exemption request through Feb. 18. Comments can be submitted by clicking here or by going to Regulations.gov and entering Docket No. FMCSA-202-0122.
Similar exemptions
In recent years, FMCSA has granted similar exemptions to Groendyke Transport, National Tank Truck Carriers, Waste Management Inc., Meiborg Bros. and JM Bozeman Enterprise.
In November 2024, the agency approved extending Groendyke’s exemption through April 26, 2029.
“The frequency of rear-end collisions is markedly lower when trailers are outfitted with pulsating brake lamps in addition to the steady-burning lamps required by the FMCSRs,” the company said in its application for exemption. “The pulsating brake lamps draw other drivers’ attention to what is happening with the vehicle in front more effectively and more quickly than steady-burning lamps.” LL
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