GPS Mounting Exemption Now in Place
GPS Mounting Exemption Now in Place.pdf
On August 22, 2018 (83 FR 42552) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its decision to grant Traditional Trucking Corporation's (TTC) application for a limited 5-year exemption on behalf of motor carriers operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to allow a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to be mounted on the interior of the windshield of a CMV within the areas allowed for “vehicle safety technology” devices. The Agency has determined that the placement of the GPS device in the windshield area would not have an adverse impact on safety, and that adherence to the terms and conditions of the exemption would achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulation. The exemption would be for any carrier who wishes to mount a GPS device on the windshield within the area defined for “vehicle safety technology”—not more than 4 inches below the upper edge of the windshield wipers, and not more than 7 inches above the lower edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers and outside the driver's sight lines to the road and highway signs and signals. This would yield an equivalent level of safety for GPS devices as compared to those “vehicle safety technologies,” and it would be a potentially safer location than lower in the CMV where the driver must take his/her eyes off the road to look at the location of his CMV on the GPS device. This exemption is effective August 22, 2018 and ending August 22, 2023.
