A letter sent on February 1, 2018, by twenty-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) offered support of an exemption from the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate for small trucking businesses with “exemplary” safety records.  This action follows a November 21, 2017 expemption request filed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

OOIDA’s request seeks a five-year exemption for motor carriers classified as small businesses by the Small Business Administration.  Additionally, these small business motor carriers must have a proven safety history with no attributable at-fault crashes, as well as no “unsatisfactory” carrier safety rating.  OOIDA’s request also voiced cybersecurity concerns with ELDs and also cast light on how the FMCSA has continually stated that it does not know if the self-certified ELD’s fulfill the regulatory requirements.

In last week’s letter, the Congress members said, “By sustaining impeccable safety records, the motor carriers that would qualify have already demonstrated the use of an ELD will do nothing to improve their operations.  Furthermore, OOIDA’s request would prevent small trucking businesses, who operate on the slimmest of margins, from maintaining costly fleet management devices that provide them no economic or productivity benefits,” the letter added.

OOIDA’s November letter stated, “A five-year exemption would provide necessary time for ELD manufacturers to be fully vetted by the agency, which would alleviate small-business motor carriers from learning that they purchased a device that could damage their vehicles electronic control module or be hacked.”