ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released the initial analysis of its industry survey on speed governor use as part of its year-long initiative to analyze the potential safety impacts of speed and speed differentials on trucking safety and operations, according to the Web site www.thetrucker.com.

Initial results showed that for those carrier respondents using truck speed governors (69 percent), the average speed setting is 69 mph. ATRI stated that a majority of carriers use the posted speed limits as the determining factor in setting governor speed. Survey respondents also detailed variations in governor speed settings that may be allowed based on specific driver criteria, such as accident-free miles.

ATRI said that while there is too little data at this point in the survey to make a strong statistical claim about the relationship between fleet size and governor use, important differences in fleet size were observed.

The vast majority (96 percent) of carriers incorporating governors into fleet operation used the standard OEM-installed governor, although one respondent claimed to use a computer system that could dynamically govern truck engines from the company’s headquarters.

Safety concerns were the most cited reason for not using governors.