Trying to strike a balance between the trucking carriers and other motorists are federal regulators, who have been generally loath to force rules that could disrupt cost-sensitive trucking operators. Ultimately, the folks who don't automate and who don't accept technology will be like someone in the office today who won't let go of the typewriter. It will get to the point where it makes business sense for them to do this. Michigan State Police carrier officer Mark Brown inspects the truck of Charlie Torbert, 64. Truckers are being encouraged to embrace safety technology advances.
Truckers say they can move in that direction on their own, without government mandates.
But many of them also concede they lack the financial means to adopt the safety devices. Then there's the 12 percent federal excise tax imposed on new heavy trucks, which further dampens their enthusiasm for buying safety gadgets or other features that add to the truck's price. As some safety advocates see it, unless the federal government forces the technology onboard big rigs, trucking firms will adopt few advances across the board, despite the life-saving potential of some readily available devices. Today only about 10 percent of big rigs carry them. Air bags, which are required on all cars and light trucks but not on big rigs.