‘Let it pass’: Intellistop repetitions for FMCSA exemption

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.

With a new, and fully confirmed, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in place, Intellistop President Michelle Hanby is asking the agency to reconsider its 2022 denial of her company’s application for an “industry-wide” exemption from the steady-burning stop lamp requirement in 49 CFR 393.25(e) that would allow all motor carriers to operate commercial motor vehicles equipped with Intellistop's pulsating brake lamp module.

“Since the original denial, FMCSA has granted five-year exemptions to eight individual motor carriers authorizing installation of the Intellistop brake-lamp modulation technology on their vehicles,” Hanby wrote in a letter to FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs dated March 16 and posted in the Federal Register on April 28. “These approvals confirm that the agency has determined, on a carrier-by-carrier basis, that the technology is capable of achieving an equivalent or greater level of safety. Intellistop respectfully submits that the safety characteristics of the technology do not vary based on which motor carrier installs it, and that the statutory equivalent safety standard [required for an exemption] is therefore satisfied on a technology-wide basis.”

FMCSA’s request for comment had drawn eight comments as of May 7—all in favor of granting the five-year exemption. Two commenters called the decision a “no-brainer.” Mike McDonald, vice president of fleet readiness at Georgia-based bulk hauler B-H Transfer, said Intellistop’s module, which simply “modulates the photometric intensity” of the required stop lamps, is a “reliable and easy to install” safety device. “Intellistop makes a great product that enhances safety and prevents rear end collisions caused by inclement weather and drivers that have distractions or ‘highway hypnosis,’” McDonald asserted. Fleetworthy’s Kendell Jackson, a retired state trooper who serves on the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Size and Weight Committee, expressed his support for an Intellistop exemption—and his frustration with current efforts by states to combat distracted driving—in his response.

“This lighting should be allowed, and FMCSA should teach the use of light to prevent crashes to CMVs and cars,” Jackson opined.

Real-world results

Hanby’s petition addresses each of the concerns identified in FMCSA’s prior decision, which an appeals court upheld in July 2023, including the distinction between modulation of required stop lamps and supplemental auxiliary lighting, the applicability of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s supportive rear-signaling research, FMCSA’s treatment of previously granted exemptions, and the monitoring and “make inoperative” considerations cited in the denial. “The petition also presents operational fleet experience from motor carriers currently utilizing the Intellistop technology, including one carrier reporting approximately a 50% reduction in rear-impact crashes among equipped vehicles,” Hanby stated.

FMCSA has approved eight exemptions for individual carriers since May 2024, when Gemini Motor Transport, the primary fuel hauler for Love’s Travel Stops, secured the first exemption for Intellistop’s module, which modulates, or “pulses,” the required stop lamps four times within 2 seconds at the onset of braking. The other exempted carriers are Meiborg Brothers, JM Bozeman Enterprises, DJS Fundraising, Brent Higgins Trucking, Encore Flooring and Building Products, Coffeyville Resources Crude Transportation, and Casey’s Services Company.

Intellistop also cites “comparable” exemptions for brake-lamp modulation technology granted to Groendyke Transport and Grote Industries. Additionally, FMCSA recently extended the five-year brake lamp exemptions previously granted to Grote and National Tank Truck Carriers, and posted new requests for similar technology from Liberty Bulk Transport—which is seeking the ninth Intellistop exemption for an individual carrier—Grote, and Truck-Lite.

“Consistent with [established] precedent, Intellistop supports reasonable oversight provisions, including annual reporting of participating motor carrier USDOT numbers and consultation with FMCSA upon request,” Hanby concluded.

“Rear-impact crashes involving commercial motor vehicles remain a serious and persistent safety concern. Intellistop is committed to working with the agency to bring this proven, simple technology to the broader commercial motor vehicle fleet in order to improve the visibility of braking events and help prevent collisions that cause fatalities, injuries, and substantial economic harm.”

Bureaucratic limbo

FMCSA originally denied Intellistop’s exemption request in a long-delayed decision rendered Oct. 7, 2022, ruling that the company had not shown an industry-wide exemption “would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulation.”

Intellistop filed its original petition nearly six years ago now—in December 2020.

“It is about time the FMCSA approves the exemption for Intellistop,” an anonymous commenter posted on the company’s latest request. “This has unconscionably dragged out way too long. This is a great, life-saving product. Bureaucracy and corporate greed from Intellistop competitors have held it hostage for years.

“Enough with this. Let it pass.”