The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) recently asked the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to hold a hearing on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s $2 billion electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
Congress enacted the mandate in 2012, but the mandate’s implementation has been flawed, OOIDA said. For this reason, it is up to lawmakers to examine the mandate and find solutions to problems, OOIDA said.
OOIDA said it and more than 30 other industry groups expressed concern prior to the mandate going into effect in December that the industry, agency, and law enforcement were not prepared for implementation.
Those concerns have been validated, OOIDA said, and the mandate’s impact has been broader than anticipated. Many industry groups have requested exemptions, temporary waivers, and “soft enforcement” deadlines, and these have caused confusion.
Some ELD manufacturers have filed for exemption requests, yet their devices still are listed on the administration’s website. These devices, however, are not fully compliant.
“An oversight hearing, which has already been requested by federal legislators, would help lawmakers better understand what administrative or legislative remedies might be needed,” Todd Spencer, acting OOIDA president and CEO, said.
The administration has not taken any steps to rectify the mandate’s issues, Spencer said.