House funding leaders should reject a provision that would mandate the use of speed limiters on heavy vehicles when they consider funding legislation later this year, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said in a letter Oct. 17.
OOIDA, an opponent of a speed limiter rule, indicated the federal rulemaking process would be the ideal approach for proceeding with such a provision. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a federal heavy-truck speed limiter proposal Sept. 7.
“Circumventing the traditional rulemaking process with a legislatively imposed mandate would eliminate the ability of owner-operators to meaningfully participate in the development of a final rule, ignoring the sacrosanct ability of industry stakeholders to help shape the regulations affecting them,” OOIDA wrote top House funding leaders.
“Forcing the agencies’ hand in issuing a mandate without fully considering these consequences would disregard the very serious threat this rule poses to the livelihood and survival of countless small businesses, which comprise an overwhelmingly large portion of the trucking industry,” the group added.
A provision in a fiscal 2017 funding bill would require the transportation secretary to issue a final rule mandating the use of speed limiting devices on trucks weighing 26,000 pounds or more. Members of Congress are scheduled to return to Washington from their autumn break on Nov. 14.
