Group seeks removal of bumper labeling rule

Manufacturer certification

The rule requires that rear-impact guards on commercial motor vehicles have a label certifying that the guards comply with the DOT’s manufacturing standards at the time of production.

Motor carriers and drivers are expected to ensure these labels remain in place, while the CVSA is expected to enforce the rule during roadside inspections. The group argues in its petition, however, that the labels “frequently wear, fade, fall off or are removed during repair.”

“The requirement that the label be maintained throughout the life of the vehicle, after potentially hundreds of thousands of miles, is not practical,” the March 11 petition states.

If a driver gets cited for a missing label, getting a replacement “is often impossible since many manufacturers will not provide replacement certification labels,” the CVSA wrote, adding that most manufacturers are unwilling to recertify a component after it leaves the factory.

A recent survey of its members by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) found that the problem impacts up to about 50 percent of the trailers currently in service.

If at first you don’t succeed…

This isn't the first time the CVSA has pressed for the rule change.

The group first petitioned the FMCSA in 2019 to get the labeling requirement rescinded. The FMCSA denied the petition in September last year but three months later issued a statement saying that drivers should not be considered to be in violation if the label is illegible, incomplete, or even missing.

The CVSA also petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2019 to get the agency to stop requiring manufacturers to apply the label in the first place, but the petition was denied on the grounds that it could harm highway safety.

For now, the CVSA’s March petition rests with the FMCSA and the labeling rule remains in effect, though drivers and motor carriers should not be cited for violations.