Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified which entity agreed to a delay in enforcement.
Dive Brief:
- The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has agreed to delay enforcement of rear-impact guard manufacturer’s label inspections until December, industry representatives told Trucking Dive.
- The CVSA, American Trucking Associations and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association raised concerns in a meeting with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration leaders last month about potential violations when labels fall off or become damaged, which happens regularly in the elements.
- The FMCSA said the groups could resubmit a rejected 2018 petition to exclude the label from inspection checklists, CVSA Deputy Executive Director Adrienne Gildea said. The FMCSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dive Insight:
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require OEMs to put the certification label on each trailer for quality assurance, and FMCSA maintenance inspections require the sticker to be visible.
The groups want to determine whether the label is a necessary part of a safety inspection, and if so, how carriers can remain compliant when stickers can’t be replaced — and fall off trailers all the time.
“We all understand there's a hiccup here,” Gildea said. “We’ve just got to figure out what the solution is.”
ATA SVP of Regulatory Affairs and Safety Policy Dan Horvath told FMCSA officials that the issue risks parking safe trailers because of the missing stickers.
“ATA expressed the concerns of several of its members that the rear-guard label is often missing or damaged during the course of normal operations, potentially sidelining perfectly compliant equipment,” Horvath said in an email.
“We appreciate FMCSA listening to our concerns and will be working with our industry partners including CVSA and OOIDA to resolve this issue,” he added.
While OOIDA EVP Lewie Pugh also appreciated the meeting, he called it “very frustrating” to be told to resubmit the petition, rather than having the last one reconsidered and approved.
OOIDA would like to see safety inspections focus on the equipment itself, rather than a sticker that Pugh argues doesn’t tell an officer anything about an ICC bumper’s quality.
“There's no direct correlation between this decal and safety,” Pugh said.
