DOT Moves to Slash Dozens of Trucking Regulations
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The Department of Transportation has proposed slashing or amending about two dozen federal trucking regulations — many of them relatively minor — but others thought to be outdated or imposing a hardship on truckers.
“My department is slashing duplicative and outdated regulations that are unnecessarily burdensome, waste taxpayer dollars, and fail to ensure safety,” Transportation Secretary . “These are common-sense changes that will help us build a more efficient government that better reflects the needs of the American people. Big government has been a big failure.”
The proposal includes rescinding the requirement that a truck’s rear-impact guard be permanently marked or labeled with a certification from the impact-guard manufacturer and removing a regulation requiring commercial driver license holders to self-report motor vehicle violations to their state of domicile.
Other regulations deemed worthy of extinction in an effort dubbed “unleashing prosperity through deregulation,” announced in a May 29 news release, included:
- Provide an exception from lamp and reflective device requirements for license plate lamps on the rear of truck tractors while towing a trailer.
- Revise the requirements for tires on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to clarify that FMCSA regulations no longer will require load restriction markings on the sidewalls.
- Remove obsolete requirements from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 207 seating systems, FMVSS No. 214 side impact protection; and FMVSS No. 210, seat belt assembly anchorages; and FMVSS No. 216, related to roof crush resistance.
- No longer require retroreflective sheeting on semitrailers and trailers because the vast majority of trailers on the nation’s highways already use it.
- Rescind the in-vehicle electronic logging device operator’s manual requirement for CMVs to maintain a list of the ELD vendors who have self-certified their products.
- Revise the requirement that motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers sign and return a completed roadside inspection form to the issuing state agency.
- Amend the definition of the term “medical treatment” for the purpose of accident reporting to incorporate revised regulatory guidance issued by FMCSA regarding medical treatment away from the accident scene.
“My department is slashing duplicative and outdated regulations that are unnecessarily burdensome, waste taxpayer dollars, and fail to ensure safety,” Duffy said. (Francis Chung/Bloomberg)
While many of the revisions may seem minor, DOT said that in total, the deregulatory package will rescind, withdraw or amend burdensome regulations that do not enhance safety. These actions also help streamline the Code of Federal Regulations by deleting more than 73,000 words from the Federal Register, DOT said.
Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order mandating that commercial drivers in the U.S. be proficient in speaking and reading English, and which directs the federal government to closely monitor commercial driver licenses issued by states to individuals who do not reside in the U.S.
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That order also directed Duffy to undo an Obama-era English proficiency policy, outlined in a 2016 memo, which paused regulations mandating that drivers during roadside inspections be placed out of service if they were not fluent in reading and understanding English.
Building on the presidential executive orders regarding streamlining regulations, DOT has been reaching out to truckers, trade organizations and small businesses for ideas on how to “ensure lawful regulations, reduce regulations and control regulatory costs.”
Trump’s executive orders since he took office Jan. 20 have set goals for agencies to cut regulations where possible. For example, Trump’s Jan. 31 executive order requires agencies to identify at least 10 existing regulations for repeal when proposing a new regulation. This “10 for 1” trade-off goes well beyond the “2 for 1” order issued during the first Trump administration.
