FMCSA approves cab-mounted beacons for autonomous trucks

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has granted a five-year exemption allowing autonomous trucking companies to use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of traditional reflective triangles. This decision applies to Level 4 highly automated ADS-equipped commercial vehicles.

While Aurora Operations, Inc. was a primary applicant, the exemption is available to other carriers provided they notify federal authorities in writing before commencing operations. To ensure oversight, companies must submit annual reports detailing malfunctions, power issues, or any instances where the beacons failed to operate correctly. Additionally, carriers must disclose any crashes involving a vehicle while the beacons were active or should have been active.

The exemption prohibits operations that would otherwise require specific commercial driver’s license endorsements, such as “H,” “X,” “P,” or “S.” The USDOT stated that the use of high-visibility beacons offers an equivalent or greater level of safety by alerting road users without requiring a human to place physical markers in potentially dangerous roadside environments.