Trucking Alliance Responsible for Only Republican to Co-Sponsor Automatic Emergency Braking Mandate

The Trucking Alliance is proud to have secured Congressman Jack Bergman (R-MI) as the only Republican to co-sponsor the bill that mandated the current Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) rule now proposed. The legislation was included in the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”, as enacted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The mandate directed the National Transportation Safety Administration to prescribe a rule requiring heavy commercial vehicles with electronic stability control systems to be equipped with an AEB system, and also promotes DOT’s January 2022 National Roadway Safety Strategy to initiate a rule-making to require AEB on heavy trucks.

“Congressman Bergman is not only a decorated general in the Marine Corps but was formerly a commercial airline pilot,” said Lane Kidd, the Trucking Alliance’s managing director. “The Congressman understands what safety technologies can do to reduce the likelihood of accidents and his sponsorship enabled this bill to garner bipartisan support.”

The Trucking Alliance adheres to a strategy that urges Congress to mandate safety reforms in the trucking industry, rather than waiting on federal agencies to do the job. “When Congress mandates a specific safety reform, the appropriate federal agency must perform,” said Kidd. “The electronic logging device mandate, creating the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, recognizing hair drug testing in lieu of the less effective DOT-required urinalysis, were all due to implementing this congressional strategy.”

The proposed rule can be accessed here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:0580a8c2-457d-4a56-a034-50aab5b45f64