Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634029
VOICES 12 | Overdrive | February 2016 We've received queries as to what standard the Feder- al Motor Carrier Safety Administration will use to determine who qualifi es for the announced pre-2000 exemption from compli- ance with the new rule to require electronic logging devices for operators keep- ing hours of service records of duty status. Reader Doug Braddock asked the question directly: I read recently that the FMCSA had recommended using "date of manufacture" as to the start-of date for trucks required to have an ELD on them – other articles say "model year 2000 and above." T here is a big difference here, and it would affect me – my tractor was manufactured in November 1999 but is titled as a 2000. Obviously, I would really be pleased with FMCSA word- ing of "trucks manufactured after Jan 1, 2000." Answer: Model year. FMCSA spokesperson Duane DeBruyne says: "The rule is tied to the model year of the com- mercial motor vehicle, as evidenced by the [Vehicle Identifi cation Number] VIN." The model year in a truck's VIN is the 10th character in the 17-charac- ter sequence: X indicates a 1999 model year, Y a 2000. While some readers wondered at language in the rule that seemed to mix manufacture date and mod- el year, some speculating this would create long-term problems for enforcement, FMCSA maintains that model year, not manufac- ture date, is the measure for the exemption. ELD mandate: Questions answered Manufacture date or model year? The short-haul, ag exemption Scan the code with your mobile device or search "Answering ELD mandate questions" at OverdriveOnline.com to hear a podcast that addresses reader questions about just how the mandate, as intro- duced, applies to their operations. One such question came from an agricultural-only hauler who moves mostly his own product. ANSWER: If you run that product within the 150 air- mile agricultural short-haul exemption to the hours of service exclusively, you're in the clear on e-logs and won't have to use them. If you run outside of that ra- dius and have to keep logs more than eight days out of any 30-day period, however, the rule says you'll be required to use an ELD. FMCSA didn't address the various short-haul hours of service exceptions directly within the ELD rule but rather has made ELD use contingent on the eight-day threshold. Es- sentially, if you cross that threshold in any 30-day period, the mandate will require the ELD. After he made a $500 bet with his brother that he could fi nish a marathon, 265-pound trucker Nathan Bugg (pictured, minus 70 of those pounds) found a fi t in self-motivated fi tness training. Fast-forward to today, and Bugg has gone much farther than he ever might have imagined. He most recently completed the Arizona Iron Man triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112- mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run) in November, and now he has his sights set on the Galveston (Texas) Half Iron Man in April. Search his name at OverdriveOnline.com to read Ian Palmer's story about just how he got there. With a full tank of self-discipline, Bugg notes, similar transformations are possible: "Always make time for yourself." Iron trucker's health transformation People are going to push at you for their agenda, but just be sure to always put in a little time every day for yourself for health and exercise. Even if it means walking around a truck stop, just do it. — Trucker/Iron Man triathlete Nathan Bugg