More than 30 organizations recently entered a diverse coalition that is fighting against a federal regulation requiring trucks to be equipped with electronic logging devices.
The 31-member organization, which includes such groups as the National Retailers Association, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the National Cotton Council and other utility, contracting and agricultural groups, have requested a delay of implementation on the grounds that it will negatively impact business. Further, they said it should be delayed until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) addresses a number of issues they have identified in the resolution.
“The electronic logging device mandate is written so broadly that it has far-reaching implications well beyond the traditional trucking industry,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA, said.
Things of particular concern include a lack of certification of proposed devices, connectivity issues in remote areas, potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and the ease by which law enforcement can access data collected. They said these issues were met with either inability or refusal on the part of the FMCSA.
As such, the coalition’s rallying point is a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) that proposes delaying the mandate for two years, until December 2019. It would bump back a mandate that the coalition estimates would cost impacted stakeholders more than $2 billion and give them little in return.