e-Log and Speed Limiter Delays

Regulations covering electronic logging and speed limiters have again been delayed according to the Department of Transportation.

However, on June 25 the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a DOT-funding bill that would set deadlines by which the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration must publish a Final Rule mandating the use of electronic logging devices and a proposed rule mandating the use of speed limiters.

September 30 is still the projected date for a Final Rule mandating the use of electronic logging devices by truck operators. The proposed rule was published last year. The mandate will apply to all drivers who are currently required to keep paper record of duty status. However, carriers and drivers would not be required to install or use a logging device until two years following the effective date of the final rule — in this case 2017.

On July 30, the Final Rule to mandate electronic logging devices was sent to from the DOT to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for final approval before being published. The e-log rule that was sent to OMB will implement stiffer penalties for carriers, shippers, brokers, and others who coerce or pressure drivers to not abide by federal safety standards like hours-of-service limits. The OMB has 90 days to approve the rules or send them back to The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration to be changed.

The Department of Transportation believes that ELDs will reduce fatigue-related crashes, which result from falsified hours of service logs.

The American Trucking Associations has been a supporter of laws and regulations mandating the use of ELDs for recording drivers’ hours of service. “For ATA’s members, safety is the highest priority,” says Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO, “and as such, we stand behind the agency as it advances a common sense solution to improving the safety of our nation’s highways.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association believes that the study data used to justify the claim that electronic logging devices would lower crash rates is flawed. Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s executive vice president, says that things like driver training, better working environments, support systems and safe parking are a better way to tackle the issue of improved safety.

The proposed speed limiter mandate rule is expected to publish on August 27. The rule has been sent to the Secretary of Transportation where it needs to be approved before moving to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for approval. The rule will require the use of speed limiters on all trucks weighing more than 27,000 lbs.

In April OOIDA sent a letter to FMCSA and NHTSA in which it expressed concern about split speed limits for cars and trucks that would result if speed limiters were mandated. The letter said in part, “To the casual observer, mandating speed limiters on heavy-duty vehicles might seem like a ‘safety silver bullet.’ Professional drivers know, however, that highway safety is not so simple….OOIDA is not pushing for faster speed limits. But whatever a jurisdiction decides, the speed limit ought to be the same limit for all vehicles in order to foster a predictable, safer highway driving environment.”

ATA, on the other hand, renewed its call for the DOT to move forward with a rule requiring electronic speed limiters on all large trucks. ATA believes slowing down trucks will reduce the frequency and severity of crashes. Federal data show that driving too fast for conditions or over the posted speed limit was the primary reason for 18% of all fatal crashes where a large truck was determined to be at fault. Speed limiters won’t eliminate all accidents, but it is hoped that they will reduce the number of them.

ATA petitioned NHTSA and FMCSA in 2006 to require speed limiters. In 2011 the government agencies said they would move forward with a speed limiter mandate, but the regulation has been tied up in bureaucracy until recently.

Originally posted on CCJ and Hard Working Truck

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e-Log and Speed Limiter Delays