The National Motorists Association (NMA) and Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) issued a joint statement questioning claims made by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) that all trucks need speed limiters programmed to 65 mph. The ATA has called upon the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) to not only cap the speed of large trucks, but to also reduce speed limits for all traffic.
"The ATA is searching for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist," noted NMA President Gary Biller. "They want to turn back the clock from today's speed limits at a time when U.S. highways are statistically safer than at any time in the past. Much safer, in fact, than when the federal government regulated the maximum speed of all vehicles to 55 mph between 1974 and 1995. It makes you wonder why." In an April 2015 study, the FMCSA reported (see Figure 1) that from 2011 to 2013, 80 percent of fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred at speed limits posted no higher than 65 mph. Nearly 60 percent of the crashes were on roads posted at 55 mph or lower. The ATA has been lobbying for speed limiters on trucks for several years. In comments presented to federal transportation officials in March 2007, OOIDA opposed the ATA call for large truck speed limiters. The advocates for independent drivers testified eight years ago that, "Twenty-four states have legally set their approved maximum speed limits at or above 70 mph on roads designed for the higher rate of speed; ten of these have approved limits of 75 mph for certain roads. Further these states have determined that it is in the best interest of highway safety to allow all vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks, to travel at these speeds." FMCSA statistics support OOIDA's statement that trucks keeping pace with surrounding traffic are at less risk of crash. The information in Figure 2 was formulated with data from FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, and Accountability program and from a January 2013 study by the John A. Volpe Transportation Systems Center, "Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles." The analysis shows that over a recent 12-month period, the crash rate was 71 percent higher (9.5 vs. 5.56) for large-fleet truck firms than for one-truck carriers. The large fleets typically operated with speed limiters, the independent truckers without.