The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans to provide guidance on the Congressionally-mandated electronic logging device (ELD) rule, the FMCSA said recently.
The ELD rule goes into effect Dec. 18. The guidance is intended to ease the transition for motor carriers and to improve safety without impeding commerce.
ELDs are synchronized with vehicle engines to automatically record driving time. They make it easier to record and share data.
“FMCSA has listened to important feedback from many stakeholder groups, including agriculture, and will continue to take steps to ease the transition to the full implementation of the ELD rule,” FMCSA Deputy Administrator Cathy F. Gautreaux said.
Guidance will be provided on the “personal conveyance” provision and on the existing hours-of-service exemption for the agricultural industry. There is a 90-day temporary waiver from the ELD requirement for transporters of agricultural commodities.
Hours of service were established for drivers of commercial vehicles weighing 10,001 pounds or more or that meet certain passenger requirements or those transporting hazardous materials.
Additional guidance will be provided on the existing 150 air miles hours-of-service exemption.
Within the next two weeks, the guidance will be published on the Federal Register. Public comments will be welcomed.