The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) applauded the transportation industry small-business owners who recently testified at a U.S. House Committee on Small Business hearing.
The hearing, Highway to Headache: Federal Regulations on the Small Trucking Industry, focused on highway safety as well as the role small businesses play in the economy.
Among the concerns presented by OOIDA members was the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate that is estimated to cost the trucking industry $2 billion. Small-business owners are concerned not only with the cost but that the 193 ELD devices listed on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website have not been tested by a third-party.
Small-business owners worry the devices may be ruled noncompliant in the future, OOIDA spokesman Monte Wiederhold told the committee.
“Small-business truckers and other businesses that rely on large trucks for their business models must contend with the same restrictive regulations as large businesses,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA, said. “Providing regulatory relief would be good for the economy and for highway safety as many regulations have no benefits for either. Small trucking-businesses are the safest operators on the road, with millions of safe miles, and we should be helping them to thrive instead of putting them out of business with over-regulation.”