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Speed Limiters Limited, Fines in Arkansas for not Speaking English

-Lombard

A few years ago an organization I was with, CDL Drivers Unlimited, had made some headway in driver advocacy at state and federal levels. One of the people we made contact with was a representative in Oklahoma Mr. Josh Brecheen. He had introduced a bill called the DRIVE Act that would prevent FMCSA from mandating the use of speed limiters in commercial vehicles. Over twenty of us made thank you videos for him, and it got his attention. Mr. Brecheen is understanding of the plights of America’s truckers, because back on April 10th he has once again reintroduced that bill.

"In 2022, FMCSA issued an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking that considered requiring commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more to be equipped with speed-limiting devices. A top speed was not determined in the advance notice, but safety groups advocated for a top speed of 60 mph.”

The current Presidential administration has no plans to require speed limiters, and we were shown this in 2016 when the same events transpired. Plans were set in motion to do this back in 2016, but when President Trump took office in 2017 those plans went off the table. Brecheen’s bill would nail the coffin shut as it takes the proposal completely off the table, and prevent future administrations from trying to implement it.

Going around the horn, Arkansas has unanimously passed a bill that will fine drivers who are not able to read or comprehend English.

Once the bill is signed into law, anyone operating a commercial vehicle must exhibit English proficiency. Truck drivers must be able to show that they can read and speak English sufficiently to:

• Converse with the general public

• Understand highway traffic signs and signals in English

• Respond to official inquiries

• Make entries on reports and records

If the bill is signed into law by the Governor it will be a $500 fine for the 1st Offense, and $1000 for the second. It would also make operating a CMV with false identification a Class D Felony.

Critics are saying the bill isn’t doing enough, citing that it still doesn’t address the problem of non-domiciled CDL holders, a topic that has been hot in conversation especially since another deadly crash in Austin, TX that damaged 17 vehicles, injured 11, and killed 5 people. The Motor Carrier involved, ZBN Transport has been investigated and found HQ’d at the same address as other trucking companies, as well as having the truck involved in the accident reported as a different company at two state line inspection stations. An Arkansas based coalition, American Truckers United, is critical of State DOT’s and FMCSA for not looking into how these drivers are obtaining CDL’s and becoming more strict on foreign, non-domiciled CDL holders citing that it is a major safety issue.

What are your thoughts?

I want to hear from you! For Driver Submissions, questions, and comments contact me at: lombard@truckparkingclub.com or Text me directly at 423-275-2444

DOT Compliance Corner

by, Santiago Talamantez

CONCRETE PUMP TRUCK COMPANIES NOW SUBECT TO ALL DOT REQUIREMENTS! Last week I posted a video discussing how Texas removed a long-standing intrastate DOT exemption for concrete pump trucks. This brought lots of questions, particularly some viewers asking why they were exempt and what were they exempt from? This in part also had me thinking about the fact that most states do not have an established method to communicate when such an impactful change to regulations takes place; other than perhaps some news articles or clips.

The regulation was amended back on October 23, 2024. When there is a new change in any transportation law, the department [TXDPS] gives a 90-day grace period before enforcement takes place. This meant that concrete pump truck companies had until January 23 of this year to get into compliance. Being exempt for them meant their drivers and trucks were not subject to being DOT inspected, their drivers were exempt from the hours of service (meaning they could drive and work as long as they wanted to, exempt from driver qualification (meaning they didn’t have to keep files and run annual records on drivers), exempt from vehicle maintenance files (meaning they didn’t have to keep a routine maintenance program by DOT standards or need to have commercial annual inspections done) etc. So you can imagine the magnitude of change that removing the exemption has brought for those companies and for those drivers.

Before posting the video, I was curious if there was any sort of notification of this change. The only one I found, was from the American Concrete Pumping Association on November 1st notifying their Texas members about this change. Nowhere else was there any sort of formal guidance or publication to explain this change, not even from our own state. This is exactly why I can’t recommend or encourage industry folks enough about attending my DOT compliance courses. I not only explain both federal and state law, I also take the time to show you where whatever topic is being discussed, is specifically stated in writing. If you are curious, these rules are published in our Texas Administrative Code, housed on the Texas Secretary of State website. You can view the current code here: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/tac/index.shtml

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Health Tip of the Week

My Go-To Truck Stop Lunch on the go!

The food at truck stops is not always the best, but if you look hard enough you can find something decent that is lower in calories, and higher in protein. When it comes to weight management it doesn’t always have to do with what you eat, but how much of it you’re eating. Below is exactly what I would get at a truck stop if I didn’t have enough time to cook in my air fryer. For 660 calories you get 48g of protein, compare that to any fast food meal, chips, and other calorie dense snacks, and you have yourself a better for you lunch option. For a beverage you can go for a water, Ghost, Celsius, or Diet soda and you’ve added no extra calories to your meal.

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Partner Post of the Week

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