The House Appropriations Committee has advanced a bill that includes a provision to stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from mandating speed limiters on heavy-duty trucks.
On Wednesday, July 10, the committee approved the Fiscal Year 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill by a vote of 31-26. The bill, which proposes spending limits and restrictions on the Department of Transportation, now advances to the House floor.
“With both targeted investments and targeted cuts, the Fiscal Year 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill carefully allocates resources to the most critical missions at DOT and HUD while meeting our responsibility to rein in spending with a reduction of $7 billion below Fiscal Year 2024,” THUD Subcommittee Chairman Steve Womack, R-Ark., said. “The bill prioritizes the safety of all modes of transportation from our railways to roads and airways. We ensure a responsible safety net with housing support for our most vulnerable citizens.”
Trucking provisions
The 210-page bill includes several provisions of interest to truckers.
Those include:
- Prohibition against FMCSA using funds to move forward with a rulemaking to mandate speed-limiting devices for commercial motor vehicles
- Allocation of $200 million for truck parking projects
- Prohibition of enforcing the electronic logging device mandate on agricultural haulers
- Prohibition on FMCSA’s attempts to alter rest break preemption waivers
- Prohibition of driver-facing cameras being used in an under-21 pilot program
- Prohibition of congestion pricing in the New York City metro area
Speed limiters
The appropriations bill serves as another attempt to stop FMCSA’s controversial rulemaking.
In 2022, FMCSA resurrected a 2016 rulemaking by issuing an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking regarding speed-limiting devices on commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more.
The 2022 notice received more than 15,000 comments, with the majority coming from truck drivers opposed to a mandate. Arguments against the requirement include the creation of “dangerous speed differentials.”
Despite the opposition, FMCSA is scheduled to move forward with a formal proposal in May 2025.
In addition to the appropriations bill, the DRIVE Act was introduced in the House and Senate. The standalone bill would prevent FMCSA from moving forward with any rule or regulation to mandate speed limiters.
During the markup hearing for the appropriations bill, an amendment to remove the speed limiter provision was defeated. The vote means that efforts to stop a speed limiter rulemaking will remain in the bill that goes to the House floor. LL
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