FMCSA Asks Whether Every Truck Should Carry an Electronic ID

On September 23, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) asking whether every commercial motor vehicle operating in interstate commerce should be required to carry electronic identification technology. The device would wirelessly transmit a unique ID number when queried by federal or state enforcement personnel.

The notice (docket FMCSA-2022-0062) was a request for information, not a proposed rule. Comments were due November 22, 2022.

Where the idea came from

The ANPRM responded to a petition from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. CVSA first asked FMCSA in July 2010 to require such a device on every interstate commercial vehicle. FMCSA denied the petition in 2013, saying it lacked information to estimate the costs and benefits. CVSA asked the agency to reconsider in February 2015 and supplied more information, and FMCSA granted the petition in November 2015.

CVSA argued that electronic ID would help enforcement agencies focus on high-risk carriers and drivers while giving safe operators an incentive. FMCSA said in the notice it assumed that incentive would be avoiding unnecessary roadside inspections.

The problem FMCSA described

FMCSA said there are about 12 million large trucks and buses registered on US roads, far more than enforcement resources can cover. States already used license plate readers, USDOT number readers and transponder-based bypass systems. But the agency said those tools may not always identify vehicles accurately. That can lead to compliant carriers being pulled in while higher-risk carriers are missed.

A 2020 FMCSA report to Congress cited in the notice found that plate and USDOT number readers identified at least 80% of carriers. Transponder and app-based bypass systems offered better accuracy, but only for about 13% of carriers, because participation is voluntary.

Questions on the table

FMCSA asked a long list of questions, including:

• Whether the device should be permanently affixed or transferable
• What data the ID should carry, and whether it should be limited to information that does not identify individuals
• Whether it should include driver-specific information such as hours of service or trip-specific data such as GPS location
• Whether existing equipment such as ELDs could be used
• Whether trailers should be included
• Cybersecurity, tampering, privacy and coercion concerns
• Costs for carriers, drivers and states

What it means for drivers and fleets

Nothing was required yet. The ANPRM was an early step, and the agency had not decided whether to propose a rule.

But the questions FMCSA raised, especially about tying driver or location data to an ID, went to the core concerns many drivers have about surveillance and cost. Carriers that already used bypass services had a stake in how any rule would interact with those systems. The comment period was the opportunity to weigh in on whether a mandate was needed at all and, if so, how narrow it should be.