Whew! That’s the first word that pops into my head as I begin to rattle off words on my keyboard.
Have you ever been so crazy busy that by the time you finish one project and roll into another, the one word that comes to mind is whew, almost as if that is the universal language for taking a breath. If you can relate, then you know that we have been moving at such a frenetic pace with rulemakings and requests for comments that we may need a speed limiter on regulations just to catch up (insert bad joke line right here).
Many people have said this, including me, but we are the most regulated, deregulated industry in the world. All year long, we have dealt with hours-of-service fixes, F4A issues, ELDs, CSA changes, and more. It’s enough to keep someone like me running ragged trying to keep up with all the information, comment dates, and pertinent data that I must share with members.
All that being said, we come to the aforementioned speed limiters, a rulemaking in the works for 10 years—yes, one decade. Finally, as it lands, it is an opportunity to submit comments on a proposed rule that would make official something carriers have been doing for years—limiting speeds on trucks.
I have seen the data and I have read the survey results that are posted, and it comes as no surprise that some in our industry are against a mandate of these devices. Their argument is that it creates a speed differential. Quite honestly, as I travel on our roads today, a differential already exists. Cars are traveling faster than trucks, some cars and drivers are traveling faster than other cars and drivers, and, yes, that is unsafe.
We operate in an industry today where the majority of our accidents are caused by traveling too fast for the conditions. Does a speed limiter correct that problem? No, not all of them do, but it will help prevent accidents.
While we cannot advocate responsible driving, as an industry we can train to that standard (yet another rulemaking at OMB for review as we speak). Some have even advocated limiting speeds up to 80 mph, a rate in which our trucks would outdrive their tires, since 75 mph is roughly the top speed rating for many commercial tires. Limiting speeds almost always makes us safer, enables our drivers to react in a timelier fashion, and ultimately saves lives.
As motor carriers, we aren’t advocating that we slow down our trucks; we are advocating that our trucks travel at speeds in which they were designed to travel and do so in a manner that equates to safer performance and safety. That, though, is not the only driver of this mandate.
When diesel prices were setting record highs a few years back, many carriers questioned their ability to stay in business, and some made it a science to capitalize on governors that were installed in the vehicles. Lo and behold, that science reaped benefits—and extreme ones at that. Some carriers limited speeds to 65 mph or lower and found millions of dollars per year in savings. Since then, fuel prices have dropped, but the science of speed limiting has remained.
The benefits of limiting speeds on our trucks are certainly present, and those who will make the arguments against a mandate will continue to do so. As part of an industry that persistently invests dollars in equipment and training so that we see improvements on our safety records, reductions in crash rates, and increases in lives saved, we must continue to advocate for yet another sensible rulemaking years in the works to do just what we set out to do—and that is to make us safer.
Whew!
