Vote to Delay the Electronic Logging Device Mandate Fails

As part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act, Congress mandated that commercial vehicles operating in interstate commerce must be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELDs). The ELD mandate requires all CDL drivers to replace paper log books for recording driver hours of service with FMCSA approved and certified ELDs by December 18, 2017. For trucks already equipped with automatic onboard recording devices, the switch over to ELDs is not required until December 16, 2019. Short haul drivers operating under the 100-air mile exception for written log books are exempt from the ELD requirement. To execute this mandate, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published the ELD final rule in December 2015.

On Wednesday, Congressman Brian Babin (R-TX) brought his bill, H.R. 3282, the ELD Extension Act of 2017, to the floor as amendment 35 to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. Babin’s bill would delay the current implementation deadline for FMCSA’s ELD mandate until December 18, 2019. In spite of strong support of a coalition of businesses that includes PMAA, the amendment failed by a count of 173 to 246.

PMAA supports delaying the ELD mandate because it unfairly burdens small businesses, will not improve safety, violates drivers' harassment and privacy rights and provides a flawed cost-benefit analysis.