The House Transportation Committee has attached a directive to this year’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill that could end up delaying or repealing the electronic logging device mandate set to go into effect on Dec. 18. Also added to the bill was a directive calling for a review of the technology platforms of ELD suppliers.
The committee voted 31-20 late in the evening of July 17 to send the bill to the full House. The legislation also moves forward with a rider long sought by trucking interests that would prevent states from enacting laws dictating meal and rest break requirements for truckers.
Also still included is a rider that would prevent advancing a safety-fitness determination rulemaking until the DOT Inspector General has issued certain certifications required by law.
As for ELDs, the House THUD bill now directs the Department of Transportation “to analyze whether a full or targeted delay in ELD implementation and enforcement would be appropriate and, if so, what options DOT has within its statutory authority to provide temporary regulatory relief until all ELD implementation challenges can be resolved.” In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is directed to “provide a report on its findings to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 60 days of enactment of this Act.”
The second directive calls for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to review ELD manufacturers technology platforms of ELD suppliers “to confirm that devices not only meet standards and specifications necessary for all affected industries and fleet sizes to be compliant, but also provide a user interface that is reasonably easy to navigate.” There is no deadline for complying with this order.
In its report on the bill, the committee justified its concern by noting the “heavy burden of this mandate, especially on small carriers.” It also stated that the mandate is “projected to cost over $2,000,000,000 to implement making it one of the most expensive of all transportation rulemakings advanced under the previous administration.”
The report also makes this argument for Congress to step in: “While large carriers already deploy similar technologies for fleet management, smaller carriers will disproportionately bear new costs associated with the mandate and with no compensating benefit to their bottom line. The Committee is concerned by reports of serious complications associated with implementation. Many significant technological concerns remain unresolved, including certification of devices, connectivity problems in remote locations, cyber vulnerabilities, and the ability of law enforcement to access data.”
Echoing the concern about the impact on smaller carriers expressed by the committee, Todd Spencer, executive director of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association told HDT that “Clearly, members of Congress have heard concerns about the mandate from their constituents. The agency has failed to answer important questions from Congress and industry stakeholders about this mandate.
“This includes issues related to enforcement, connectivity, data transfers, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and many other legitimate real world concerns,” he continued. “The agency refuses to certify any ELD as compliant with the rule, thus leaving consumers with no idea if a device they purchase is indeed compliant.”
The ELD passage in the bill report is certainly hard-hitting. If nothing else, it signals that Republicans on the committee want it on record that they have proposed delaying the implementation of the ELD rule if not chucking it altogether— even at this last date.
But it’s the sort of legislative language that may look good on paper to certain constituents, but has little chance of staying in the final bill ultimately passed by Congress.
What’s more, the timing does not bode well for anyone hoping to slow or stop the rollout of the ELD rule. The mandate kicks in five months from now. So, for the committee’s directive to have any impact, a final THUD bill would have to be passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Trump no later than mid-October.
But wait– then the full Congress would still have to pass and get signed a separate bill (based on what the DOT report finds) directing DOT to delay or reverse the mandate.
Related: House THUD Bill Boasts Trucking Reform Riders
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