“Whether the outcome of the election is a Trump or Harris administration, I think you’re going to continue to see significant efforts to collect data around AV (autonomous vehicle) systems already deployed on the roadways,” Adams told FreightWaves in an interview. .

ADS guardrail

Adams, who is now a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, said the Trump administration has taken an industry-driven approach to developing autonomous vehicle operations by encouraging feedback from companies that could benefit from them. more.

The Biden administration, in contrast, “has focused on leveraging technology to achieve safer outcomes,” he said. “We were willing to put some guardrails in place – that is, an actual rule – instead of letting the industry dictate what would happen, and I spent most of my two and a half years in the administration to try to develop these safeguards. »

The higher costs of training and certifying people performing enhanced inspections for higher levels of automation should be considered in the proposed rule, along with the possibility of marginalizing trucks and their drivers with inspections additional costs that could reduce the time available to generate income. service.

Adams cautioned, however, that given recent and growing union concerns, getting an AV rule proposed next year could prove difficult, even in a Harris administration.

An automatic braking rule to set new standards

A final rule regulating a specific type of automation – braking – is expected to be published in the Federal Register in January, to be published jointly by the FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Regulations “should establish performance standards and motor carrier maintenance requirements for AEB systems on heavy-duty trucks and associated test procedures for measuring the performance of AEB systems,” according to a summary of the rules.

“I’m going to see if they actually move forward on this,” Adams said. “We now have a braking rule in place for passenger cars, but we saw an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with NHTSA to expand it to trucking.”

The National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC), which represents thousands of small motor carriers, says technology mandates like AEB will ultimately increase costs for shippers and consumers, due to higher investment costs. high for new trucks.

“Additionally, new, more expensive truck models slow the turnover of older trucks,” NASTC President David Owen said in comments submitted on the AEB proposed rule.

Owen also says the safety arguments for requiring AEBs have not yet been properly evaluated and the technology has not been perfected. For example, when AEB suddenly activates, it can surprise a truck driver, he said.

“The suddenness of the action of the device causes near accidents and may require avoidance action on the part of the professional driver. Currently and in the near future, AEBs represent more of a threat to road safety than a solution.

Speed ​​limiter anxiety

An even more controversial regulation on the horizon for trucking that Adams is keeping an eye on is the FMCSA’s requirement to limit the top speeds of heavy-duty truck engines equipped with electronic engine control units. This speed limit is to be determined by a proposed rule scheduled for May 2025.

Much of the criticism FMCSA has heard from small truck owners and owner-operators who say limiting speeds would make it harder to compete with large carriers – many of which already use speed-limiting devices in their fleets – and put them out of business. .

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which strongly opposes speed limiting devices, also maintains that they are also dangerous because of the increasing speed differentials that would occur with other vehicles on the highway if there were a mandatory top speed for heavy trucks.

Adams acknowledged that the FMCSA “received a lot of criticism regarding the proposed speed limiter rule,” he said.

“But even today, nine months ago, when I was at the agency, we approached this issue without prejudice or preconceived ideas, as to whether speed limiters are good or bad,” he said. he declared. “This was an extremely apolitical approach to a technology that has been around for years among fleet owners.

“What concerned us was the fact that we had 40,000 highway fatalities a year, 3,000 of which were from commercial trucks, and a large percentage of them were speed-related. So if we can use technology to limit speed and thereby save lives, that’s why we’ve taken on this problem and are so committed to trying to solve it.

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