Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619872
20 | Overdrive | January 2016 A fter years of slow but accelerating market penetra- tion of electronic logging devices, a mandate is now in place to require them in most long-haul trucks in two years. Enforcement of the federal rule requiring ELDs will begin Dec. 18, 2017. The rule was published in the Federal Register Dec. 16. The rule mandates that the majority of drivers currently required to keep paper logs will have to use ELDs. There are a few exceptions, most notably for drivers of vehicles built before model-year 2000, because of technical compli- cations of interfacing with the engine. This is a change from 2014's proposed version of the rule. A day after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin- istration announced the rule, the Owner-Operator Inde- pendent Drivers Association said it would fight it in court. OOIDA filed a petition Dec. 11 with the federal 7th Cir- cuit Court of Appeals asking it to review the rule and its necessity. The American Trucking Associations and the Truck- load Carriers Association voiced support for the rule. Upon beginning use of an ELD, drivers will no longer be required to keep and maintain paper logs. They will, however, be required to maintain supporting docu- mentation and submit it to their carrier or, for owner-op- erators, keep it on file. FMCSA says the rule will save the industry $1 billion a year, mostly in time and paperwork. It also says the rule will save 26 lives and 562 injuries a year – numbers that OOIDA disputes. "This regulation is abso- lutely the most outrageous intrusion into the rights of professional truckers imag- inable and will do nothing at all to improve highway safety," said Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and chief executive officer. "In fact, we firmly believe it will do exactly the opposite by plac- ing even more pressure and Drivers have two years to comply with the ELD mandate – unless it's derailed again by OOIDA's legal challenge BY JAMES JAILLET Farewell, paper logs The mandate includes provisions to protect drivers from harassment, including fines for carriers who violate the law.