WASHINGTON — You’d think the folks at the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would have better things to do with their time.

FMCSA published a proposed final rule in the Federal Register last month restricting the placement of auxiliary lights on trucks and trailers. The new reg requires that additional lights mounted on either side of the three-lamp center cluster be at least twice the distance apart that separates two adjacent lamps in the cluster.

OOIDA takes exception to FMCSA’s proposal
restricting auxiliary lights on trucks and trailers.

FMCSA says they’re concerned that the placement of additional lamps in this location might confuse other drivers. The traditional five-lamp array readily identifies a large vehicle — no kidding.

A double standard had existed here for a time, with one DOT agency allowing additional lights to be used, provided they met spacing requirements, while the other did not allow additional lighting. The new final rule makes the FMCSA regulation agree with the NHTSA enforcement guidance by limiting the number of lights and mandating their spacing.

In the final rule published by FMCSA, agency officials claimed that the “rulemaking merely makes a minor change that will not result in additional costs.” The U.S. owner-op group, OOIDA takes exception with that oversimplification.

“Truckers paying to have lights rewired and holes plugged where once-legal additional auxiliary lights were located probably don’t agree with that assessment,” OOIDA noted in it comments on the rule, urging the agency to regulate the minimum number of lights and not a maximum number.

The final rule is pending.