SBTC Backs Bill To Exempt Small Carriers From ELD Mandate

by Jake Tully - Published: 5/29/2018

Earlier today the Small Business in Transportation Coalition announced that the group supports the “Small Carrier Electronic Logging Device Exemption Act of 2018” a bill recently introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives last week.

According to the Small Business In Transportation Coalition (SBTC) the bill would exclude 90% of the trucking industry from adhering to the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate put in place in December 2017 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by allowing fleets operating 10 trucks or less to see exemption.

President and Spokesperson of the SBTC, James Lamb, reports that the ELD mandate has already impacted the industry in a negative manner, displacing experienced drivers and contributing to the shortage in the country.

"As many seasoned interstate drivers have left trucking over the ELD mandate, and the industry cannot replace them fast enough, the supply chain is being adversely affected,” said Lamb. “As shipping costs rise, consumers should prepare for higher prices.”

The SBTC reports that the group filed a class exemption application with FMCSA on November 20, 2017 in order to exempt motor carriers with 50 or less employees from adhering to the ELD mandate.

Lamb reports that the application has not been published in the Federal Register, stating that the FMCSA is not addressing the needs or the overall livelihood of the smaller trucking companies.

"It is no secret that the real purpose of the ELD Mandate is to attack small business carriers by ‘driving’ up their costs, costs that can easily be absorbed by the large and mega carriers but are burdensome on the smallest businesses,” said Lamb. “What boggles the mind is that the FMCSA, in its infinite wisdom, has created a regulatory scheme that ignores a Congressional mandate in the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act for FMCSA to establish certification criteria and allows ELD manufacturers to simply ‘self-certify’ their products in furtherance of a program that was created to prevent drivers from self-certifying their compliance with hours of service regulations.

Lamb also reports that the suggestion that an ELD manufacturer is more responsible than a trucker to self-certify mileage is insulting to the driver.

More information on this issue may be found at the SBTC at Truckers.com.