Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/989498
Logbook 18 | Overdrive | June 2018 A bill filed May 23 in the U.S. House would permanently exempt trucking companies with 10 or fewer trucks from compliance with the electronic logging device mandate. Sponsored by a bipartisan duo, Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), the Small Carrier Electronic Logging Device Exemption Act is the first attempt in Congress at specifically exempting in- dependents with as many as 10 trucks from the ELD mandate. The filing came more than five months after the mandate's Dec. 18 compliance deadline and nearly two months after the mandate's April 1 hard enforce- ment date. The bill would allow those small carriers to use paper logs to record duty status instead of ELDs. To become law, the bill must be passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Trump. Another bill was filed in the House last year by Rep. Brian Babin (R- Texas) to postpone the ELD mandate for two years for carriers of all sizes, though Babin's bill has seen no action since. Peterson and Gianforte also introduced a bill May 23 to perma- nently exempt haulers of agricultural commodities from the ELD mandate. Livestock and agricultural haulers al- ready have received compliance exten- sions; livestock haulers must adopt an ELD by the end of September, while agricultural haulers had until June 19. The Owner-Operator Indepen- dent Drivers Association in Novem- ber petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow small-business truckers – those with less than $27 million a year in revenue, as defined by the Small Business Administration – with strong safety records to continue to run on paper logs for five years beyond the December 2017 compliance dead- line. FMCSA has not yet issued a decision on OOIDA's waiver request. – James Jaillet ELD mandate exemption bill proposed Nearly a third of the U.S. Senate penned a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration boss Raymond Marti- nez last month calling on the agency to "explore improvements" for the hours of service regulations. Thirty senators, all but two of them Republicans, signed the four-paragraph letter dated May 17. While it doesn't mention specific reforms, the letter urges FMCSA to "provide for a commonsense framework for drivers, rather than a one- size-fits-all model." The Senate letter is the latest part of a seemingly growing movement for HOS reform, driven in part by the electronic logging device mandate and its rigidity in ensuring hours compliance. A bill was introduced in the U.S. House in March that would allow drivers to pause their 14-hour on-duty clock for up to three hours a day. Also introduced in the House in April was a rider to a larger bill that would allow FMCSA to enact HOS reforms more quickly by skipping a step in the rulemaking process. The rider was withdrawn, and the bill to pause the 14-hour clock has seen no action. Martinez told Overdrive in March he in- tends to examine possible HOS reforms. – James Jaillet Senators press FMCSA for hours reform The letter from 30 senators urges FMCSA to provide an hours plan other "than a one-size-fits-all model." TODD SPENCER was named the Owner-Opera- tor Independent Drivers Association's new presi- dent for a five-year term. Spencer, who had served as OOIDA's executive vice president since 1992, suc- ceeds longtime president Jim Johnston, who died in March. Spencer was elected to OOIDA's board in 1978. NAVISTAR RECALLED more than 10,000 Interna- tional tractors as part of the Kidde fire extinguisher recall initiated in Novem- ber. The recall affects trucks equipped with Kidde plastic-handle or push-button "Pindicator" extinguishers. The bill would allow carriers with 10 or fewer trucks to use paper logs to record duty status.