A bill to prevent the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from mandating speed limiters on commercial motor vehicles has now been introduced in both chambers.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., reintroduced the DRIVE Act on Thursday, May 8. The bill would prohibit FMCSA from issuing any rule or regulation that requires speed limiters. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., introduced the House version of the bill on April 10.
“Washington, D.C., bureaucrats should not be telling Montanans how or what to drive,” Daines said. “Burdening our truckers, farmers and ranchers with unnecessary speed limiter regulations would do nothing but cause congestion and higher crash rates. The DRIVE Act will help keep our trucks safe on the road as they support Montana’s economy.”
Opponents of FMCSA’s speed limiter proposal argue that the rule would create unnecessary congestion and dangerous speed differentials between large trucks and passenger vehicles, increasing vehicle interactions and crashes. Additionally, many contend that states should set speed limits.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the DRIVE Act.
“No one is more committed to safe highways than America’s truck drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “We share the same goal as every motorist – arriving safely. But forcing trucks to operate below the speed of traffic makes roads less safe by creating speed differences and more risky interactions. We appreciate Sen. Daines’ leadership in standing with truckers and working to protect all road users from the dangers of a one-size-fits-all federal speed limiter regulation.”
For the past decade, truckers have faced uncertainty on whether or not the devices would be mandated. The first proposal came in 2016 during President Barack Obama’s administration. When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, the proposal was moved to the back burner. President Joe Biden’s administration resurrected the effort in 2022.
Although Trump is expected to pause the rulemaking again, the DRIVE Act is an attempt at ending the proposal altogether.
“We don’t want this back-and-forth every time there’s a change in administrations,” Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs, recently told Land Line Now. “What the DRIVE Act would do is let Congress assert its authority on this issue and tell FMCSA simply … ‘You’re not going to move forward with this rulemaking.’ So, this really is an opportunity to put this issue to rest once and for all.”
In addition to OOIDA, the DRIVE Act is supported by the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, Agricultural Retailers Association and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. In January, a coalition of 17 organizations asked Trump to withdraw the speed limiter proposal.
On Monday, May 5, OOIDA also asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to end the speed limiter proposal as part of the Association’s deregulatory recommendations. LL
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