CCJ

January 2016

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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40 commercial carrier journal | january 2016 A fter years of slow but acceler- ating market penetration of electronic logging devices, a mandate is now in place to require them in most long-haul trucks. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register on Dec. 16 requiring ELDs. Enforcement of the rule will begin Dec. 18, 2017, giving fleets and drivers two years to comply. The long-anticipated final rule was set in motion by language in the previ- ous highway funding bill – Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act, enacted in July 2012 – requiring FMCSA to implement an ELD mandate. Anne Ferro, FMCSA's administrator at the time, said the agency would propose a rule by September 2013, but it was March 2014 before it was published. The final rule was expected Sept. 30, 2015, but it too missed several deadlines before it finally was published in December. The rule mandates that the majority of drivers currently required to keep paper logs use ELDs. There are a few excep- tions, most notably for drivers of vehicles built before model-year 2000, because of technical complications of interfacing with the engine. This is a change from 2014's proposed version of the rule. Upon beginning use of an ELD, driv- ers no longer will be required to keep and maintain paper logs. They will, however, be required to maintain sup- porting documentation and submit it to their carrier or, for owner-operators, keep it on file. FMCSA says the rule will save the in- dustry $1 billion a year, mostly in time and money saved on paperwork, and will save 26 lives and prevent 562 injuries a year. "Since 1938, complex on-duty/ off-duty logs for truck and bus driv- ers were made with pencil and paper, virtually impossible to verify," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx when the rule was announced Dec. 10. "This automated technology not only brings logging records into the modern age, it also allows roadside safety inspectors to unmask violations of federal law that puts lives at risk." The U.S. Department of Transportation has eyed ELD proposals dating back to 1994. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association successfully thwarted a similar rulemaking by FMCSA in 2011. Drivers have two years to comply with the ELD mandate By James Jaillet, matt Cole and Jeff Crissey Want to see what fleets that run ELDs say about some of the devices on the market? Check out Commercial Carrier Journal's Reader Reviews site at CCJDigital.com/reviews, where you can find qualified fleet reviews of 10 different electronic logging devices, along with reviews of Class 8 trucks, engines, transmissions and more.

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