This bill exempts stinger-steered automobile transporters carrying assembled vehicles from the federal requirement to display warning flags on projecting loads.
Deb Fischer
Senator
NE
This bill exempts stinger-steered automobile transporters carrying assembled vehicles from the federal requirement to display warning flags on projecting loads. The exemption takes effect immediately upon enactment. The Secretary of Transportation is directed to quickly update federal regulations to reflect this change without a formal rulemaking process.
New Bill Scraps Warning Flag Rules for Car-Hauling Stinger-Steered Trucks
This bill removes the requirement for stinger-steered combination vehicles—those specialized trucks where the hitch is located behind the rear axle to carry more cars—to display red or orange warning flags when their cargo sticks out. Under current safety standards (49 CFR 393.87), any load that extends more than four feet beyond the rear of a vehicle usually needs a flag to alert other drivers. This legislation creates a specific carve-out for these transporters as long as they are hauling fully assembled highway vehicles, effectively treating the car-carrying setup as a self-contained unit that doesn't need the extra visual warnings.
Trimming the Red Tape
The Department of Transportation is directed to bypass the usual bureaucratic hurdles to make this happen. Specifically, the Secretary of Transportation must update the federal regulations without the standard 'notice-and-comment' period, which is the phase where the public and industry experts usually get to weigh in on rule changes. By skipping this step, the bill ensures that once it hits the books, car haulers can stop worrying about those flags almost immediately. For a driver moving a fleet of SUVs from a factory to a dealership, this means one less piece of equipment to manage and one less minor violation to worry about during a roadside inspection.
Why the Configuration Matters
This change isn't for every truck on the road; it’s highly specific to the 'stinger-steered' design. Because these rigs are engineered to maximize space by tucking the cars low and tight, the industry argument is often that the vehicles being transported are already highly visible and the flags don't add much extra safety. If you’re driving behind one of these on the interstate, you’ll still see the cars being hauled, but you won't see the little square flags flapping off the bumper of the last car. The bill essentially bets that the specialized design of these transporters makes the traditional warning flag redundant for modern logistics.