Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/923471
OOIDA seeks ELD exemption for small businesses T he Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association last month filed a request with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for a small-business exemption from the electronic logging device mandate. If granted, the request would exempt carriers that fit the Small Business Administration's definition of a small business in truck trans - portation, an entity with $27.5 million or less in gross annual receipts. It would include inde - pendent and leased owner- operators with safe driving his- tories, the exemption request states. OOIDA cites a myriad of concerns in its request, from continued concerns about cybersecurity to a lack of gov - ernment or independent third- party vetting of many of the nearly 200 self-certified ELDs on FMCSA's registry. OOIDA also noted that its own analyses have compared crash rates of large carriers known to have long used ELDs' predecessor devices and carri - ers with mostly owner-opera- tor drivers and fewer AOBRDs in use, the latter with lower crash rates. – Todd Dills Indiana wants ELD mandate delayed due to FMCSA registry concerns C iting a bevy of concerns, Indiana's attorney gen- eral in late November filed a request with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to delay the Dec. 18, 2017, compliance deadline of the agency's electronic logging device mandate. The agency did not respond to requests from CCJ for com- ment. The mandate's compli- ance date has been set for nearly two years. In a letter filed with FMCSA's Chief Counsel Randi Hutchison on Nov. 29, Indiana AG Curtis Hill Jr. says the deadline "would place undue burdens on drivers and operators," arguing for "an immediate delay in the implementation of the new requirements." Hill did not propose a new date by which truckers should adopt an ELD. Chief among Hill's concerns is the agency's registry of ELD providers and units, which allows manufacturers to self-certify their products – with little vet- ting by FMCSA itself of the providers or their devices – as compliant with the rule's ELD specifications. "Drivers and operators are left without any way of ascertaining which brands and models of devices ultimately will pass muster," he writes in the letter. "They must 'fly blindly' into investing in products they are being required to purchase." Hill's concerns about the self-certification process echo those of other indus- try stakeholders – including some ELD makers – who've also taken issue with the lack of vetting of the devices in the registry. Devices listed in the registry, despite being certified by manufacturers, may "not ultimately be compliant or conform to the required" specifications of the agency's rule, he argues. Hill also contends that the agency hasn't given manufacturers or roadside enforc- ers the tools they need to test and deploy the data transfer methods required by the ELD rule. "At present, too many questions surround the mandates with which driv- ers and operators will be expected to comply," he writes. "Even a cursory perusal of industry trade publications provides clear evidence that many drivers and operators are completely unprepared for the proposed changes." – James Jaillet commercial carrier journal | january 2018 9 LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-news- letters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a daily e-mail newsletter filled with news, analysis, blogs and market condition articles. Indiana AG Curtis Hill Jr. says FMCSA's self-certified ELD registry presents problems for fleets and drivers looking for compliant devices.