The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a proposed rule to include rear impact guards on the list of items that must be examined as part of the required annual inspection for each commercial motor vehicle. 85 Fed. Reg. 85571 (December 29, 2020).

In addition, FMCSA proposes to amend the labeling requirements for rear impact guards, and to exclude road construction controlled horizontal discharge trailers from the rear impact guard requirements, consistent with changes made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to the corresponding Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. NHTSA concluded that installation of rear impact guards on RCC horizontal discharge trailers would interfere with the intended function of the trailers and was therefore impracticable due to the unique design and purpose of those vehicles.