The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the FMCSA have granted a 30-day public comment period extension on their proposed speed limiter rule for large commercial vehicles.

The new deadline is Dec. 7. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and other groups had requested an extension in September. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear cited the fact that the DOT has not even specified a governed speed or timeline, which “requires additional time for ATA and its federation partners to re-engage its membership on these important issues.”

The DOT states, “The new public comment deadline of Dec. 7, 2016 will provide all interested parties sufficient opportunity to fully develop and submit comments and evidentiary materials to the agencies via www.regulations.gov.”

The DOT says speed limiting devices on heavy vehicles could save lives and save an estimated $1 billion in fuel costs each year.

The rule would require all newly manufactured U.S. trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating more than 26,000 pounds to be equipped with speed limiting devices. The NHTSA and FMCSA have not formally stated a maximum speed, but their analysis focused on speeds of 60, 65, and 68 mph.

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