Dive Brief:
- Rear impact guard certification labels and markings will no longer be required to remain on a trailer or semitrailer in perpetuity, per a final rule by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published Feb. 19.
- Illegible and worn-out stickers were drawing concerns from carriers, and FMCSA advised in December 2024 that such characteristics would not result in a violation. The final rule is effective March 23, but final requests to reconsider the measure can still be received through that time.
- The regulation doesn’t overturn a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requirement for OEMs meeting a safety standard of the rear impact guards at the time of manufacture and sale.
Dive Insight:
The final rule resolves a gap that carriers had faced in which manufacturers wouldn’t replace labels that roadside inspectors had noted were illegible or missing or would only do so under certain circumstances, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Allianced noted.
Trucking Dive reached out to FMCSA to clarify how resales may or may not be affected for carriers buying used equipment and wanting to verify the current safety of the equipment. The agency said Feb. 23 it was in the processing of getting clearance to comment.
The labels, though, are meant for new equipment purchases, the American Trucking Associations previously noted.
Trucking groups nevertheless noted how the labels would deteriorate.
“Once the trailer is on the road, these labels can quickly become illegible or deteriorate during the service life of the trailer,” the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association noted. “The lack of a certification label has no bearing on the structural integrity or proper mounting of the rear impact protection guard.”
Industry groups such as the ATA, CVSA and the nonprofit National Tank Truck Carriers association previously raised the issue to the FMCSA for years, calling for regulatory change. Those comments came as the agency considered other adjustments to labeling in 2020 that were passed in 2021 but held off on ending the labeling requirement.
