Clock running for FMCSA on automated driver systems rules

PEORIA, Ill. — What are the rules on automated driver systems in commercial motor vehicles?

Right now, it depends on what state you are in.

What a federal transportation official called “a patchwork” of state regulations is putting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the shot clock to develop and implement federal regulations on driverless CMVs.

“I’m watching this across the country. There are so many states across the country that have issued their own state regulations in this particular area. There are currently no federal safety regulations, only a patchwork of state requirements for the use of ADS equipment in CMVs,” said Winsome Lenfert, the regional field administrator for the Midwest region for the FMCSA.

Lenfert said the agency is further pressed because driverless trucks and other CMVs could be on the roads yet this year.

“ADS-equipped CMVs could be operating, without human drivers, by mid-2024,” she said.

Lenfert, who discussed the federal rulemaking process as it pertains to the trucking industry, spoke at the 2024 Midwest Truck and Trailer Show.

She emphasized that the FMCSA prefers to take a measured approach to the federal rulemaking process, with an emphasis on safety.

“It’s making sure we have the knowledge, and we are implementing it a little slowly, making sure that there are standards, that we are not prohibiting the advancement of it, but we are introducing it in a safe manner. That’s where we are right now,” she said.

Lenfert said the agency is trying to balance that measured approach with the knowledge that states have regulations on the books already on ADS systems.

“It’s moving the technology slowly into the system, but some of the states, they are out there a little faster than us. So, we are trying to keep up with that, as well as making sure we are implementing it responsibly,” she said.