Changes to Consider in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and North American Standard Inspection Procedures to Accommodate Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel

Today, virtually all commercial trucks are powered by diesel fuel, while private cars are fueled
by gasoline. Supported by our National Energy Policy, a new generation of technologies is
currently being developed that allow the use of hydrogen as a fuel to power cars and trucks. The
purpose of this document is to provide a review of existing Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations (FMCSRs) with respect to changes that should be considered to accommodate
commercial vehicles that use hydrogen as an alternative fuel. In addition, this document also
provides a review of the existing North American Standard (NAS) Inspection Procedures and
considers changes in those procedures that should be considered for inspections of commercial
vehicles using hydrogen as an alternative fuel.