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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a
final rule revising §397.17. This regulation had required drivers, of hazardous
materials laden trucks, to check their tires every 2 hours or 100 miles.
The original regulation was designed to reduce the potential
of tire fires caused by the friction of tubes rotating within a low or flat
bias-ply tire. Since bias-ply tires are no longer used and radial tires don't
pose a significant fire threat, the FMCSA has decided to remove this
requirement. The security of Hazardous Materials shipments was also a
consideration into the removal of this requirement. The final rule was issued on
October 4, 2002 and will be effective on November 4, 2002.
Although this may seem a small item, the removal of this
requirement is a small step in the right direction of eliminating regulations
that no longer apply to the equipment, technology or operations of the 21st
Century trucking industry. The elimination of out-dated, ineffective and
overly burdensome regulations is key in creating effective safety regulations
for the industry.
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