Industry, Enforcement Community Given Period to Adjust After Mandate Takes Effect Dec. 18
Commercial vehicle inspectors will issue citations to motor carriers operating vehicles without electronic logging devices beginning Dec. 18 but will not place vehicles out of service until April 1.
“The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance supports moving forward with the compliance date as specified in the rule,” the group said in an Aug. 28 announcement. “However, setting an April 1, 2018, effective date for applying the ELD out-of-service criteria will provide the motor carrier industry, shippers and the roadside enforcement community with time to adjust to the new requirement before vehicles are placed out of service for ELD violations.”
In a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the inspectors group said its member jurisdictions have used the phased-in approach in the past when implementing a significant change in regulatory requirements.
“I also want to assure you that, despite what opponents of the mandate may argue, the enforcement community is ready to begin enforcement of the requirement on Dec. 18, 2017,” CVSA told FMCSA.
FMCSA will require nearly all interstate carriers to use ELDs instead of paper logbooks to record drivers’ hours beginning Dec. 18. Carriers using existing e-log devices that meet current specifications — known as automatic onboard recording devices, or AOBRDs — will be able to continue using them for two more years.
Motor carriers have had two full years to prepare for the 2015 final rule. FMCSA’s own research has found that the use of ELDs results in a reduction in a motor carrier’s crash rate and hours-of-service violations.