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Jan 8, 2018

What you need to know about the new ELD mandate requirements

By Cassie Stang Business Development at King Solutions

On December 18th, 2017 the The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) began enforcing the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate requirements. These requirements were drafted and put into effect by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) and should be read and understood by all those in charge of carriers or logistics management operations.

What to know about the new mandate requirements
In accordance with the FMCSA compliance deadline, roadside inspectors and enforcement personnel will begin documenting violations of the congressionally mandated ELDs and may issue citations to commercial carriers who operate vehicles without ELDs.

The ELD mandate will not change any existing underlying hours-of-service requirements.

The penalties worsen in April
Starting on April 1, 2018, inspectors will also begin putting commercial carriers out of service if their vehicle is not equipped with an ELD. This gives many shippers and supply chain players some time to adjust to the new regulations and get their vehicles equipped with ELDs before the out-of-service criteria (OOSC) associated with the ELD mandate goes into effect.

Some vehicles are “grandfathered” in or exempted
Many vehicles equipped with an automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD) may continue to operate until December 16th, 2019 so long as the device meets the requirements of 49 C.F.R. 395.15.

There are also certain exceptions to the ELD rule. According to the FMCSA, these exceptions include:

  • Drivers who use paper logs no more than 8 days during any 30-day period.
  • Driveaway-towaway drivers (were the vehicle driven is the commodity) or the vehicle being transported is a motor home or a recreation vehicle trailer (at least one set of wheels of the vehicle being transported must be on the surface while being transported)
  • Drivers operating vehicles manufactured before model year 2000

More information on ELD
For more information on ELD mandates and regulations, read up on the overview provided by the FMCSA. You can also refer to the entire Federal Register released by the Department of Transportation. It’s 126 pages, making it quite the read, so it’s probably easier to direct any immediate questions you have to our experts here at King Solutions. We keep up with the latest mandates and regulations in the logistics industry. Contact our team or read our blog to stay up to date on the latest news.

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