Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/573961
26 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 V olvo Trucks requested an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow the placement of rain and ambient light de- tection sensors on its trucks lower in the windshield than currently permitted by regulations. Safety regulations currently require antennas, transponders and similar devices to be located 6 inches or less below the top of the windshield, out- side the area swept by the wipers and outside of the driver's line of sight to the road and highway signs. According to Volvo's exemption request, being able to mount the rain and ambient light detection sensor lower would allow the company to introduce the sensor as an option on some of its trucks. Volvo says the sensor is about 2.6 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide and "would be placed on the passenger side of the windshield, outside the driver's sight lines to all mirrors, highway signs, signals and view of the road ahead." Volvo specifically requests the sensor be placed on the lower part of the windshield within the bottom 6 inches of the area swept by the wipers. To view public comments on Volvo's request, go to regulations.gov and search Docket No. FMCSA-2015-0239. – Matt Cole T he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last month granted Ford Motor Co. an exemp- tion to allow motor carriers to operate the company's Transit-based com- mercial motor vehicles that don't meet current exhaust system location requirements. Regulations require exhaust systems of buses powered by gasoline engines to discharge at or within six inches forward of the back of the bus, and the exhaust system of every truck and truck tractor to discharge at the rear of the cab or near the rear of the cab. The Ford Transit doesn't meet these requirements. Ford said it performed carbon monoxide concentration tests, which used moni- tors at various locations within the vehicle to measure the concentration of CO ingress into the cabin area under various driving conditions, including idle and top speed. According to the request, the tests showed the "resulting CO concentration is below every threshold used by federal agencies." The exemption is valid until Aug. 14, 2017. – Jack Roberts Volvo petitions over rain-light windshield sensor Ford gets exemption for Transit's exhaust location Volvo said being able to mount the rain and ambi- ent light detection sensor lower would allow the company to introduce the sensor as an option. Untitled-13 1 6/9/15 10:31 AM Ford says its Transit has undergone perfor- mance-based testing that demonstrates its exhaust system is as safe or safer than if it adhered to FMCSA regulations.