TORONTO- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has sent its federal rule requiring new trucks to come standard with electronic stability control systems to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for approval, according to the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA).

The rule is designed to help mitigate rollover and loss-of-control crashes, NHTSA claims, adding that rollovers are also a major cause of traffic tie-ups, resulting in lost productivity.

The rule sent to the White House would take effect in two years following its publication in the Federal Register.

And at the OTA’s conference last fall, Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca, commented: “We strongly encourage Transport Canada to develop a national standard that would require these systems on all newly manufactured large trucks and buses by a specified date.

Ontario was the first province to publicly support a standard that could be adopted nationally.

What do truckers make of stability tech?

In 2014, Volvo and Bendix demonstrated the Volvo Enhanced Stability Technology (VEST) system to Maritime truckers.

As he waited his turn for a test drive, Robbie Acheson, president of County Line Trucking in Wilmot, New Brunswick, told todaystrucking.com that he was a bit skeptical that VEST could prevent roll-overs.

But Acheson’s suspicions disappeared when the VEST demonstration driver negotiated a series of obstacles that saw the trailer full of close to 8,000 gallons of water tip precariously, but then was righted almost as quickly by the system.

“I really thought she was going to go,” he said. “There is no question in my mind the system saved us from rolling over.”

His seatmate, Steve Greer from A.S. Reefer Parts in Moncton, agreed. Greer said the driver was going close to 30 miles an hour when the system began to correct the rollover – even before it was possible in the cab to tell there was trouble.