By Shala Gean
Communications Specialist
Farmers and ranchers are keeping a close eye on HR 3282, the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Extension Act of 2017, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin of Texas.
The bill, which is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), would push the mandate back from December 2017 to December 2019 to allow stakeholders to work with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration to address numerous unresolved issues.
While most farmers and ranchers should be exempt because they can claim covered farm vehicle status, drivers who haul livestock, live fish and insects are likely to fall under the requirements.
Drivers who use ELDs would be limited to current hours of service rules, which restrict a driver to only 14 “on duty” hours, with no more than 11 active driving hours. Once drivers reach the maximum hour allotments, they must stop and rest for 10 consecutive hours, which would be problematic when transporting livestock and other live animals.
“This delay is necessary to adequately account for costs, allay technology concerns, minimize impacts to livestock and other live animals under our members’ care and allow for the proper training to ensure uniform compliance and enforcement,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall wrote in a letter to Babin.
The bill has been referred for consideration by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Unless Congress acts, carriers and drivers who are subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ELD rule must install and use ELDs by Dec. 18.
“Unnecessary stops or multiple loads and unloads add additional stress resulting in potential livestock weight loss and increased animal sickness and death,” Duvall said.
The government wants ELD then they can do way with the 14-hour rule some ofthese shippers and receivers holder there for 5 hours you’re burning up your whole day can’t make your next delivery where you can make your next pick up because you get delayed because you can’t go off duty because you can’t go off duty when you guys sleep and wait for the lumpers to unload you go back to the other old original log book 8 and 10 we can go off duty and it’s off duty not eating up a time clock 14 hour clock just to get an extra one hour driving mandatory half hour break to the off-duty line and it still counts on your 14-hour clock what’s this government retarded I just say do away with the 14-hour clock go back to 8 and 10 where you can go off duty and it means off duty trying to force you to tell you when to sleep when not to sleep
My concerns are all the delays due to road construction eats up time.
Shippers and receivers’ delay.
Not enough cities that are trucker friendly to give us adequate parking.
New drivers being forced to drive 11 hours, much less put in a 14 hour day.
This electronic loghing is NOT for safety reasons, but for control of an industry that is not black and white, but mostly grey.
The ELD requirement does not change any of the hours of service requirements. It only addresses how records of hours are kept.The traditional paper log book allows drivers to make ‘adjustments’ to their time reported. An electronic log cannot be torn out of a book and replaced with a revised version when needed.The real problem is in the hours of service rules.
Rep Bill Schuster is holding Bill HR3282 hostage. Now 72 co-sponsors yet he will not pass it. We have started pushing him via phone calls, emails and twitter. He’s now got his phones going straight to voicemail. Farmers & Ranchers, please start pushing him to pass thru HR3282 asap!