Trucking Industry Split over Requiring Electronic Speed Limiters

By Daniel Hawn

Published on February 23, 2007

Many large trucking companies already use the technology voluntarily, which is standard on all trucks built after 1990 but can be deactivated. They contend that limiting the speed of commercial trucks promotes safety and fuel economy. It could also boost overall efficiency, since accidents that result in traffic jams contribute to wasted fuel, time, and cargo. These companies want speed limiters to be required by law because drivers have a tendency to prefer vehicles without limiters, and they want to avoid losing employees to companies that don't use the devices.

Smaller companies, on the other hand, hold that the devices are actually hazardous because they limit the maneuverability of vehicles that use them, and increase the speed differential between commercial trucks and other vehicles on the road. Critics of the devices have also suggested that imposing speed limiting is a public relations strategy designed to make it appear that big companies are concerned about safety when they are actually seeking to get eventual approval on the use of larger commercial vehicles.

According to statistics released in 2006 by federal regulatory agencies, excessive speed was a factor in almost one in four accidents involving commercial vehicles. Speeding was second only to prescription drug use in causing serious commercial accidents.