Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/687054
June 2016 | Overdrive | 37 choose a noncompliant product. The distinction isn't obvious. The registry website has this disclaimer: "These devices are self-certified by the manufac- turer and not by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration." Yet the website of Load Logistics, the first to post a product on the registry, at first trumpeted that it was the first ELD provider "approved by the FMCSA." Following an earlier online version of this report, that language was changed to reflect the reality of the prod- uct's registration. FMCSA's final rule outlines a process by which devices could be removed from the registry if found noncompliant, offering the provider opportunity to correct the is- sue and thus perhaps spare its customers a noncompliance finding. Providers self-cer- tify their products, FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne emphasized, "under penalty of perjury." Noncompliance with device specs in the rule would thus open up the potential for legal action. Following the intial three certified de- vices, in May the agency set up a vetting process for product registrations, con- tacting the initial three to request further documentation. Going forward, officials say, no certification of an ELD provider will appear on the registry without the same prior vetting of the information. That vetting, however, doesn't constitute a compliance field test, the officials noted. Future enforcement of device compliance is expected to rely on roadside enforcement and other investi- gations, which the FMCSA will conduct "when warranted," DeBruyne says. "None of the big names" in electronic hours of service compliance are listed yet on the registry, says Thayne Boren, mobile manager for Truckstop.com. He suspects the makers of most devices, like the com- pany's own uDrove e-log, continue to work to "engage the DOT and FMCSA" so that there is no question of compliance. "We want to submit it right the first time." The wait-and-see approach A third of owner-operators surveyed via OverdriveOnline.com in April indicated they would wait a considerable time before making a decision on just what to do rela- tive to ELD acquisition. Most of that third, 30 percent of all poll respondents, were basing that determination not on ELD market considerations but the potential outcome of a legal challenge of the man- date by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. If the rule is thrown out or sent back to the regulatory drawing board, such reasoning goes, why invest now? (OOIDA's initial briefing of the 7th EXEMPTIONS TO 2017 ELD COMPLIANCE • Owner-operators of pre-2000 model year trucks (determined by the truck's VIN, not the engine) are exempted from the requirement to use an ELD. • Owner-operators running under the various short-haul exemptions to the requirements to log records of duty status will not be required to use an ELD unless they cross the air-mile threshold of their particular exemption for more than eight days in any 30-day period. 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 that threshold. • An operator that already was using a CFR 395.15-compliant automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD) prior to the compliance date in December has two years after December 2017 before being required to use an ELD. YOUR MOST LIKELY RESPONSE TO THE ELD MANDATE, ASSUMING IT REMAINS INTACT? 28% If I can't find a pre-2000 truck, I'll look for another line of work 10% I'll retire or look for another line of work 22% 34% Nothing/ little will change 32% I'm out of trucking I run a pre-2000 model year truck and will continue doing so 11% I do or will run short- haul enough to avoid using an ELD 7% I'm already running e-logs 10% I'll run with an ELD, likely purchased this year 3% Other/Not sure 3% I'll wait for the outcome of challenge lawsuits before purchasing any ELD 30% I'll run with an ELD, likely purchased in 2017 4% I'll wait it out Since the ELD mandate's release, the share of owner-operators reporting they would leave the industry if an e-log mandate came to be has fallen sharply. That could be due partly to the sizable exemptions FMCSA included in the rule, partly to the cooling nature of strong emotions with time. In 2014, following FMCSA's release of its proposal to require e-logs, 63 percent of owner-operators reported they would retire or look for another line or work if such a mandate came to pass. If numbers from this most recent polling are correct, 18 percentage points of the 31-point decline since that time can be attributed to pre-2000 model year and short-haul exemptions included in the final rule.