To support a proposed regulation to ease restrictions for CMVs at railroad crossings, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has submitted supplemental information into the record that it has developed in three different focus areas: vehicle and railroad collisions; rear-end commercial motor vehicle (CMV) fatal crashes; and signal failures.

On May 30, 2025, FMCSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend 49 CFR 392.10 by adding an exception for any railroad grade crossing equipped with an active warning device that is not in an activated state (e.g., flashing lights or crossing gates down, indicating the arrival of a train). Under local law, this would permit the CMV to proceed across the railroad tracks without slowing or stopping.

Using data from the Federal Railroad Administration, FMCSA has identified information on vehicle and railroad collisions, rear-end CMV fatal crashes, and signal failures. This information has been summarized and posted to the docket and FMCSA may consider it in the context of further regulatory action.

CMVs carrying hazardous materials or passengers are currently required to come to a stop at all crossings in both Group 2 (crossings that are actively controlled by devices such as crossing gates or flashing lights) and Group 3 (crossings marked with a crossbuck, but not equipped with an active highway or other signal), and are not required to stop at crossings in Group 1 (crossings that are actively controlled with a highway signal that would show a green light).

The proposed rule would change the requirements for CMVs carrying hazardous materials and passenger-carrying CMVs as they approach Group 2 crossings, as they are currently required to come to a complete stop at least 50 feet from these types of active crossings under the existing regulations, and would no longer be required to do so under the proposed standards.

The FMCSA data indicated that from 2016-2024, there was only one vehicle-rail collision involving a hazmat truck at a Group 2 signal and 8 such collisions at a Group 3 signal. But the agency also noted from 2016-2023 there were four fatal rear-end collisions involving hazmat vehicles while stopping at Grade 2 crossings. This data might allow the FMCSA to justify a regulatory change to eliminate the requirement for hazmat vehicles to stop at all Group 2 and 3 signals.