[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 26, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41630-41632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16310]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0260]
Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Emergency
Safety Solutions' Application for Exemption
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
requests public comment on an application for a five year exemption
received from Emergency Safety Solutions (ESS or Applicant).
Specifically, ESS seeks an exemption from certain Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) related to requirements for placing warning
devices around a stopped commercial motor vehicle (CMV), requirements
that exterior lamps be steady burning, and requirements that specific
types of warning devices be used. The exemption would allow CMVs to
operate with a module manufactured by ESS which pulses the rear
clearance, identification, and brake lamps from a standard lower level
lighting intensity (1-2 Hertz) to a higher-level lighting intensity (4-
5 Hertz) when activated during emergency stops or breakdowns. FMCSA
requests public comment on Applicant's request for exemption.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 25, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Number FMCSA-2025-0260 by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. See the
Public Participation and Request for Comments section below for further
information.
Mail: Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. E.T., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Each submission must include the Agency name and the docket number
(FMCSA-2025-0260) for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments
received without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit the ground
level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202)
366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before visiting Dockets Operations.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315(b), DOT solicits
comments from the public to better inform its exemption process. DOT
posts these comments, including any personal information the commenter
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records
notice DOT/ALL 14 -FDMS, which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. The comments are posted without edit
and are searchable by the name of the submitter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Sutula, Chief, Vehicle and
Roadside Operations Division, Office of Carrier, Driver, and Vehicle
Safety, FMCSA, at (202) 366-9209, or by email at [email protected].
If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the
docket, contact Dockets Operations at (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation and Request for Comments
FMCSA encourages you to participate by submitting comments and
related materials.
[[Page 41631]]
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2025-0260), indicate the specific section of this
document to which the comment applies, and provide a reason for
suggestions or recommendations. You may submit your comments and
material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a
mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of
your document so the Agency can contact you if it has questions
regarding your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to www.regulations.gov and put
the docket number ``FMCSA-2025-0260'' in the keyword box, and click
``Search.'' Next, sort the results by ``Posted (Newer-Older),'' choose
the first notice listed, click the ``Comment'' button, and type your
comment into the text box on the following screen. Choose whether you
are submitting your comment as an individual or on behalf of a third
party and then submit. If you submit your comments by mail or hand
delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11
inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit
comments by mail and would like to know that they reached the facility,
please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. FMCSA
will consider all comments and material received during the comment
period.
II. Legal Basis
FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315(b) to grant
exemptions from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).
FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal
Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public an
opportunity to inspect the information relevant to the application,
including the applicant's safety analysis. The Agency must provide an
opportunity for public comment on the request.
The Agency reviews the application, safety analyses, and public
comments submitted and determines whether granting the exemption would
likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the
level that would be achieved without the exemption, pursuant to the
standard set forth in 49 CFR 381.305(a). The Agency must publish its
decision in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)). If granted, the
notice will identify the regulatory provision from which the applicant
will be exempt, the effective period, and all terms and conditions of
the exemption (49 CFR 381.315(c)(1)). If the exemption is denied, the
notice will explain the reason for the denial (49 CFR 381.315(c)(2)).
The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).
III. Applicant's Request
Current Regulatory Requirements
Applicant seeks an exemption from the requirements in 49 CFR
393.95(f), 392.22(a), and 392.22(b). The applicable FMCSRs require the
driver of a CMV stopped on the traveled portion or the shoulder of a
road for any cause other than a necessary traffic stop to activate
hazard warning signal flashers and place required warning devices as
soon as possible, but within ten minutes, at specified locations behind
and in front of the stopped CMV. They also specify placement of warning
devices in certain circumstances, such as during daylight hours, or
where devices may be obstructed from view (e.g., when stopped within
500 feet of a curve or the crest of a hill). 49 CFR 392.22(b). The
FMCSRs also require that all exterior lamps be steady burning, with
certain exceptions. 49 CFR 393.25(e). Finally, the FMCSRs specify the
types and number of warning devices to be used for stopped vehicles,
namely three bidirectional emergency reflective triangles, or at least
six fusees or three liquid-burning flares. 49 CFR 393.95(f)(1)-(2).
Other warning devices may be used in addition to required devices, as
long as they do not reduce the effectiveness of required devices. 49
CFR 393.95(f)(3).
Applicant's Request
Applicant requests the exemption for two Hazard Enhanced Location
Protocol (H.E.L.P.) lighting alert products, H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE Truck
and H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE Trailer. Applicant requests an exemption from
Sec. Sec. 392.22(a), 392.22(b), and 393.95(f) for all drivers of CMVs
equipped with the H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE Truck system. Applicant requests
an exemption from Sec. Sec. 392.22(a) and 392.22(b) for all drivers of
CMVs equipped with the H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE Trailer system. The
H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE Truck module taps into the CMV's red and amber
lighting circuits and activates higher flash rates on lamps on the
front, sides, and rear of the CMV tractor and trailer or box truck when
the CMV is in park or the parking brake is engaged, the hazard lights
are on, and the module's hard switch is turned on. The H.E.L.P.
DeliverSAFE Trailer module is mounted externally between the tractor
and trailer and relies on software to confirm the vehicle is
stationary, hazard lights are activated, and the system is armed via
either mobile app or hard switch located on the product. The Trailer
module activates higher flash rates on lamps on the sides and rear of
the trailer of the stopped CMV but because it does not activate lamps
on the tractor, the driver would continue to need to carry warning
devices required by Sec. 393.95(f) if stopped on an undivided or two-
lane highway where traffic is approaching from the front of the CMV.
Applicant asserts that the H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts will pulsate at
higher frequency of 4-5 hertz when activated during emergency stops
and, therefore, will enhance visibility of a stopped or stalled CMV to
other approaching motorists. Applicant submits that pulsating of the
required and auxiliary lamps of a CMV significantly increases
visibility and reduces the frequency of rear-end crashes, without the
need for each CMV to be equipped with warning devices required by the
FMCSRs. Applicant cites studies, including a 2010 study conducted by
performed by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) for the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (DOT HS 811 329)
and 2022 study performed by VTTI for ESS, that it states support its
claim that the ESS module will likely achieve a level of safety that is
equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent
the exemption. Applicant also states that its modules protect CMV
drivers by removing the need for the driver to exit the CMV to place
the FMCSR-required warning devices around the CMV and then recover the
devices in or alongside moving traffic.
While not directly relevant to the exemption request, the Applicant
states that its H.E.L.P. Digital Alerts module supplements the system
by sending digital warnings to nagivation systems of oncoming motorists
to alert them to the disabled CMV's presence approximately 20 seconds
before the approaching vehicle is predicted to encounter the CMV.
Applicant further explains that the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration provided ESS with a January 19, 2021, interpretation
letter advising that the H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts are permitted under
the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as an auxiliary hazard
warning signal flasher.
A copy of ESS's application for exemption, and all supporting
materials, are available for review in the docket for this notice.
[[Page 41632]]
IV. Request for Comments
In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315(b), FMCSA requests public
comment from all interested persons on ESS's application for a five-
year exemption from 49 CFR 393.95(f), 392.22(a), and 392.22(b).
All comments received before the close of business on the comment
closing date will be considered and will be available for examination
in the docket at the location listed under the ADDRESSES section of
this notice. Comments received after the comment closing date will be
filed in the public docket and may be considered to the extent
practicable. In addition to late comments, FMCSA will also continue to
file, in the public docket, relevant information that becomes available
after the comment closing date. Interested persons should continue to
examine the public docket for new material.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2025-16310 Filed 8-25-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P