TV or not TV? For truck cabs, it’s still ‘not’

No soap operas in the truck cab. That’s the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s decision on continuing a regulation in 49 CFR, Part 393 that requires television viewers or screens to be placed in the rear of the cab and away from the driver.

However, FMCSA makes it clear that the restriction does not apply to any other device or technology unless such technology can receive a television broadcast signal. As a result, FMCSA said it does not believe the rule could potentially discourage the use of ITS-related technologies, noting the use of in-vehicle display screens that provide drivers with real-time map displays of areas of traffic congestion, construction, and accidents.

Some satellite communications systems enable motor carriers to track their vehicles en route to a destination, and to transmit written messages to drivers that appear on video terminals in the cab. Also, some collision-avoidance or warning systems display video images of traffic around the vehicle, FMCSA said. The decision was published July 24 in the Federal Register.