Federal regulators have granted a five-year exemption allowing qualifying automated trucks to use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of the traditional devices placed around a stopped truck. The exemption began October 7, 2026, expires October 7, 2031, and was published in the Federal Register October 9.
Who can use it
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's final decision covers Aurora Operations and other carriers operating commercial vehicles equipped with Level 4 automated driving systems. Other carriers must notify FMCSA before using the exemption and certify that they can meet its conditions.
It changes specific requirements about warning-device placement, steady-burning lamps, and the types and number of warning devices. It does not waive the other applicable federal motor-carrier safety rules.
Lights and operating limits
The cab must have forward- and rearward-facing amber flashing beacons that meet specified light-performance standards, with redundant power. The beacons must activate as soon as possible, and no later than five minutes, when a truck stops on a highway or shoulder for reasons other than necessary traffic stops. They must keep flashing throughout the stop.
Standard hazard flashers must also activate and remain on. The ordinary warning-device placement rule allows up to ten minutes, according to FMCSA's notice.
Operations are confined to roads within the particular automated vehicle's validated operational design domain: the geographic, roadway and environmental conditions in which it has been validated to operate. The decision does not authorize unrestricted nationwide use.
The exemption excludes passenger transport and hazardous-material transport. Longer combination vehicles are limited to two 28-foot trailers; triples are excluded.
The safety finding and reporting
FMCSA concludes that the exemption is likely to provide safety equivalent to or greater than the existing requirements. That is the agency's judgment under the exemption standard, not a finding that every road or weather condition was tested.
Carriers must report covered crashes within five calendar days and submit annual reports by November 1, or within 30 calendar days of ceasing covered operations. Reports include vehicle mileage, beacon malfunctions and mounting details. Information designated confidential under the notice's conditions may be withheld from public disclosure.
FMCSA says it will revoke the exemption for a carrier or all carriers if they violate its conditions, safety deteriorates or continuation conflicts with the statutory goals.