OOIDA Submits Comments on Side Underride Guard Rulemaking

Read excerpts of their commentary as well as a comment submission from a trucker voicing concerns about potential unintended consequences should this mandate come to fruition

“Nobody cares about road safety more than truck drivers and every single truck driver wants to operate in a safe environment to return home just like drivers in passenger vehicles. NHTSA has considered numerous options involving side underride guards, but has consistently concluded a federal mandate would be impractical and costly, thus outweighing any safety benefits. Any potential mandate also fails to recognize numerous other issues limiting the practicality of side underride guards. The latest NHTSA analysis indicates that a side underride requirement comes with a roughly $1 billion price tag without even accounting for various operational cost estimates. Any move by the agency to advance such a measure is premature and shortsighted.” 

–Todd Spencer, President of OOIDA

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“Side underride guards are a very bad idea for many reasons. I cross railroad tracks with tall ‘humps’ that will definitely damage or trap low-belly trailers with underride guards. I also load\unload at docks at entertainment venues that will damage or trap the trailer (high center). In addition, the cost of the equipment to add underride guards to trailers would be most definitely cost prohibitive, adding unnecessary and unrecoverable expense to equipment.”

– Dave Sweetman, Trucker

Read Full Official Comment Letter Here

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