Agricultural News
Temporary Waiver on Looming ELD Mandate Buying NCBA Time to Negotiate Long-Term Exemption
Wed, 22 Nov 2017 11:57:04 CST
Come December 18, 2017, the US Department of Transportation's Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act will go into effect, mandating all freight trucks to install electronic logging devices, or ELDs. The regulation will also limit truckers to 11 hours of driving daily, after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and restrict their on-duty time to 14 consecutive hours, which includes nondriving time. As you can imagine, this poses many problems for livestock haulers and the animals in their care. Thanks to the combined effort, though, of the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the DOT has decided to grant a 90-day waiver from this regulation for livestock haulers, to allow the department more time to consider their options. According to Allison Cook of NCBA's Washington, DC office, this is good news indeed.
"This is definitely a little Thanksgiving present and in my mind, is a win," she said. "This gives us more time to continue our conversation with DOT about our long-term needs, but it also gives DOT a chance to take their time on our livestock hauler petition that we sent about a month ago - time to go through the comments and make a positive decision for our livestock haulers."
As that process plays out, Cook says other issues regarding the regulation's complexity will be discussed as well. One issue in particular, is to get clarification on the regulation's 150 air mile exemption. The NCBA is requesting formal guidance from the DOT on these matters and others, and hope to drive home the point that local law enforcement and haulers themselves will need to be educated on the regulation's specific parameters to avoid any confusion, when the time comes that haulers become subject to this rule.
"Again, they could grant that petition specific to our exemption for livestock haulers for up to five years," Cook said. "But, we're still going to continue our conversations with FMCSA about our long-term needs."
Listen to Cook discuss the issues surrounding the ELD mandate scheduled to come online soon, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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