IST Update: FMCSA Grants Application for an Exemption to Waste Management Inc. for Use of Red or Amber Brake-Activated Pulsating Lamps

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA or Agency) announced its decision to grant the limited 5-year exemption requested by Waste Management Inc. (Waste Management) to allow all of its operating companies, which currently number 106, to replace the high-mounted brake lights on their owned and operated fleets of heavy-duty refuse and support trucks with red or amber brake-activated pulsating lamps positioned in the upper center position, or in an upper dual outboard position, in addition to the steady burning brake lamps required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The Agency has determined that granting the exemption would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulation.

Background:

“The FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an opportunity to inspect the information relevant to the application, including any safety analyses that have been conducted. The Agency must also provide an opportunity for public comment on the request.

The Agency reviews safety analyses and public comments submitted and determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of the Agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)) with the reasons for denying or granting the application and, if granted, the name of the person or class of persons receiving the exemption, and the regulatory provision from which the exemption is granted. The notice must also specify the effective period and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).” - from Federal Register.

The FMCSA has previously granted similar, but not identical, temporary exemptions to the National Tank Truck Carriers Inc. (NTTC), (85 FR 63643), Grote Industries, LLC. (Grote), (85 FR 78918). Inc. (Grote), and Groendyke Transport Inc. (Groendyke) (84 FR 17910).

The Institute for Safer Trucking (IST) supports the FMCSA’s decision to grant this exemption. Increasing conspicuity on the rear and sides of large trucks and trailers will help save lives and prevent injuries. The Safer Trucking Report found that the rear was the initial point of impact on 19 percent of large trucks involved in fatal crashes. The Institute for Safer Trucking further analyzed the initial impact on large trucks involved in fatal crashes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and found that in 2019, 16 percent of Dump or Garbage/Refuse Trucks were struck in the rear during the day, while 47 percent of Dump or Garbage/Refuse Trucks were struck in the rear during the night.

By adding these additional lights, the Institute for Safer Trucking hopes Waste Management’s trucks will be that much more visible to others on our roads, especially at night.

We also hope that the FMCSA’s granting of this and similar exemptions leads to a larger discussion about truck conspicuity. Too many families have needlessly lost loved ones and countless others have suffered severely debilitating injuries because they could not see a large truck or trailer in time to brake or avoid it.

Further exacerbating the problem of truck conspicuity has been an inexplicable neglect of the issue of truck underride crashes. Occurring on both the sides and rears of trailers, more must be done to protect motorists and vulnerable road users from these types of truck crashes that are especially deadly because they render many of their protections useless. We urge the Department of Transportation to move swiftly to establish the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection that was mandated as part of the recently pass infrastructure bill to bring together stakeholders to have a meaningful discussion about this long-known safety issue.