House lawmaker introduces bill to delay ELD mandate

U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, has filed the ELD Extension Act of 2017 (H.R. 3282), which would delay the implementation of the electronic logging device mandate for commercial trucks from December 2017 to December 2019.    U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, yesterday introduced H.R. 3282, the ELD Extension Act of 2017, which would delay the implementation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) electronic logging device (ELD) mandate from December 2017 to December 2019.
   The rule requires that ELDs be installed on all interstate commercial vehicles model year 2000 and newer by Dec. 18, 2017.
   The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) praised Babin for filing the extension legislation, arguing that there are too many unanswered questions about the technical specifications and enforcement guidelines of the ELD mandate.
   The FMCSA “has failed to answer important questions from Congress and industry stakeholders about this mandate,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said. “This includes issues related to enforcement, connectivity, data transfers, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and many other legitimate real world concerns.
   “The agency refuses to certify any ELD as compliant with the rule, thus leaving consumers with no idea if a device they purchase is indeed compliant,” he added.
   The ELD rule was mandated by Congress in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012 and finalized in December 2015.
   Back in 2015 when the rule was adopted, the FMCSA said that requiring the use of ELDs would:
     • Result in an annual net benefit of over $1 billion, largely by decreasing the amount of required industry paperwork;
     • Increase the efficiency of roadside law enforcement personnel in reviewing driver records;
     • And, on an annual basis, will save an estimated 26 lives and prevent 562 injuries resulting from crashes involving large commercial motor vehicles.
   However, OOIDA said last month that although the FMCSA’s mandate will require truck drivers to use ELDs to track their driving and non-driving activities, these devices can only track the movement of a vehicle. Requiring ELDs on commercial vehicles does not improve safety, since they are not any more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours-of service regulations, according to the trade association.
   OOIDA has also said that mandating ELDs “is the equivalent of warrantless surveillance of truckers and that the government’s weak excuses for doing so fail to justify violating their Fourth Amendment rights.”