House rejects effort to delay ELD mandate

The electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, scheduled to take effect Dec. 18, 2017, requires that ELDs be installed on all interstate commercial vehicles model year 2000 and newer.

   The U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday voted down an amendment to delay the implementation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
   The amendment, H.Amdt.303 to H.R.3354, was introduced by Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, but was rejected in the House by a vote of 173-246.
   The ELD mandate is scheduled to take effect Dec. 18, 2017, and requires ELDs to be installed on all interstate commercial vehicles model year 2000 and newer.
   Back in July, American Trucking Associations (ATA) Vice President of Advocacy Bill Sullivan sent a letter to FMCSA Deputy Administrator Daphne Jefferson on behalf of the ATA in support of the ELD mandate.
   In the letter, Sullivan noted the ELD technology has proven effective in improving safety and increasing compliance.
   He argued that although opponents of the ELD mandate say it infringers on drivers’ privacy, “Drivers must already show their paper logs at the request of law enforcement, and ELDs simply transmit that same information electronically, so claims of privacy infringement are unfounded – the only difference is in how drivers are recording and reporting their hours-of-service.”
   He also pointed out how the hours of service (HOS) rules are not changing with the implementation of the ELD mandate.
   “ELDs do nothing but ensure compliance with the hours-of-service rules,” he said. “The ELD final rule does not add any new limits on the number of hours a driver can drive in a day or work in a week.”
   In addition, Sullivan said that many truck drivers already use ELDs, so the argument that many drivers will quit once the ELD mandate takes effect does not hold true.
   “ATA members repeatedly tell me that after initially resisting using ELDs, their drivers now swear by the technology and refuse to work without it,” he said. “This is because ELDs save drivers’ time by lifting the burden of 15-20 minutes spent manually calculating and recording their hours-of-service, reduce HOS violations by eliminating the numerous so-called ‘form and manner’ violations and increase compliance with hours-of-service rules.”
   Despite ATA’s support for the ELD mandate to take effect this December, on Aug. 29, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) filed a petition with the FMCSA supporting a delay to its implementation.
   OOIDA said there is a lack of preparedness by law enforcement agencies nationwide to handle the implementation of the ELD mandate. In addition, OOIDA said 26 states have not yet incorporated an electronic logging regulation into state law, and are not authorized to enforce the rule until they do so.
   However, just last Wednesday, Jefferson said in a response letter to Sullivan that the FMCSA has made funds available to states to purchase any equipment they would need to enforce the ELD rule. She also said the FMCSA has provided initial training to the states, and further training will be offered this fall.
   “ELDS will improve the accuracy of HOS logs, improve compliance, reduce falsification that occurs with paper log books, and reduce crashes,” she said.
   Looking ahead, the FMCSA estimates there will be a $2.4 billion annual savings in paperwork reduction and efficiency costs, outweighing the estimated $1.8 billion cost for ELD implementation.
   ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said, “ATA has supported, and will support, this important regulation. Congress has now voted a fourth time to move forward with electronic logging of the existing hours of service information required for decades. Make no mistake, the time for debate about electronic logging is over, and we’re pleased that Congress has rejected this ill-conceived effort to delay their implementation.”
Correction: A previous version of this story was inaccurate in saying that Rep. Babin’s bill, the ELD Extension Act of 2017 (H.R. 3282), was rejected by the House of Representatives on Sept. 6. Instead, an amendment that was introduced by Rep. Babin to delay the ELD mandate was rejected by the House on Sept. 6.