WASHINGTON — At a briefing held Monday at the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced it would grant a 90-day waiver from the Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) mandate for all transporters of agricultural commodities. The 90-day period begins on December 18, 2017 and will allow the Agency additional time to review the recently filed exemption requests from the Agricultural Retailers Association and the National Pork Producers Council, of which USCA and other livestock groups jointly-filed.
FMCSA also announced its plan to open a public comment period related to the application of the agricultural commodity hours-of-service exemption and to clarify the existing 150 air-miles hours-of-service exemption to enforcement officers and industry.
USCA’s Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Hilker issued the following statement:
“During our trip to Washington, D.C. this year, we sat down with FMCSA personnel to discuss how the implementation of ELDs would present unique challenges for livestock haulers. We’re pleased that they have continued that conversation by issuing this 90-day waiver to fully evaluate how our industry can comply with this regulation.
We’re confident that upon further examination, the Administration will find that livestock haulers need additional flexibility in the mandate, specifically in the restrictive Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules. USCA will continue to be an active participant in these discussions and asks its members to do the same by submitting comments and keeping pressure on their elected officials to support the industry in securing these needed changes.”
—USCA