Trucking news and briefs for Friday, June 9, 2023:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is extending the comment period for its advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) related to side underride guards on trailers.
NHTSA published the notice on April 21 and requested comments on a number of factors related to side underride guards, including their effectiveness, unexpected benefits and costs, and more.
NHTSA's advance notice said side underride guards could add more than 800 pounds to the trailer and upward of $3,000 in additional cost, and laid out membership for its 16-person Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, which will make recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on safety regulations related to underride crashes.
The comment period was originally set to close June 20. Its extension comes after requests from the American Trucking Associations and others, who said they needed additional time to gather information and develop comments.
The comment period was extended for 30 days and now closes July 20. Comments can be filed here.
[Related: Trailer side-underride-guard rule could bump costs $3K]
