Last February, Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) introduced House Resolution 906 to Congress.
Also known as the “REPAIR Act,” H.R. 906 would require motor vehicle manufacturers “to provide to a vehicle’s owner certain direct, real-time, in-vehicle data generated by the operation of the vehicle that is related to diagnostics, repair, service, wear and calibration or recalibration of parts and systems of the vehicle.”
Though the bill’s text is different than state efforts in Massachusetts and Maine and the national heavy-duty Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2015, its focus is not. If passed, H.R. 906 could create a federal law around vehicle right to repair.
As such, the bill has been hotly debated in the automotive and commercial vehicle industries. It’s up to 50 cosponsors in Congress — 25 on both sides of the aisle — and has been moved to House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce.
Within trucking, especially, right to repair has been one of the independent aftermarket’s biggest crusades for more than a decade.
Associations and businesses in support of right to repair and have advocated for transparency and access to technical information of vehicle systems for the benefit of consumers — that vehicle owners should have the freedom to have their vehicles repaired and serviced how they so choose.
Conversely, truck and engine manufacturers have opposed right to repair legislation, stating the highly advanced technological systems found on today’s commercial vehicles should only be serviced by licensed dealer professionals trained on the technology. OEMs also have voiced concerns about publicly releasing proprietary design information, stating fears their technologies could be reverse engineered to create aftermarket products that lack the safety and performance levels of genuine first-fit components.
