The ELD mandate in the U.S. took effect Dec. 18 and other then some minor, isolated software and server issues, it was business as usual for enforcement across the country, reports the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Executive Director Collin Mooney.
“Jurisdictions around the country are implementing the ELD requirement,” said Mooney in a CVSA news release. “Enforcement personnel have been trained in anticipation of the ELD rule and now that it is in effect, inspectors will be verifying hours-of-service compliance by reviewing records of duty status requirements electronically.”
While the rule has taken effect, a phased-in approach is being taken by law enforcement. Any violations stemming from a lack of ELDs will not count against a CSA score or be cause for being placed out of service until April 1. Fleets using automatic onboard recording devices, a precursor to ELDs, will be allowed to use those devices until Dec. 16, 2019, thanks to a grandfather clause in the mandate.
On April 1, 2018, inspectors will start placing commercial motor vehicle drivers out of service if their vehicle is not equipped with the required ELD.
The ELD rule does not change any of the underlying hours-of-service requirements, but simply enforces the use of an electronic device connected to the vehicle’s diagnostic port to track and record hours of service, which replaces paper log books.
The American Trucking Associations officially welcomed the effective date of the ELD mandate, hailing it as a step forward for the industry.
“Electronic logging devices have been legislated, promulgated, and litigated – with Congress voting three times in the past five years in favor of this requirement and a federal court rejecting a challenge to the rule,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “The time has finally come to retire decades-old, burdensome paper logs that consume countless hours and are susceptible to fraud and put the safety of all motorists first.
“The benefits of this rule exceed the costs by more than $1 billion, making it a rule the ATA can firmly support and easily adopt,” he continued. “Today marks the start of a new era of safety and efficiency for our industry and we thank the champions in the Department of Transportation and Congress who have gotten us to this point.”
On the same day, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s introduced language in Gazette I which mandates the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in the Canadian trucking industry.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance will now work with the provincial associations to see the ELD rule implemented across Canada as soon as possible. CTA recently asked the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Road Safety declare support for an intraprovincial ELD mandate mirroring the proposed federal regulation and prioritize the accelerated introduction of provincial regulations/legislation while commencing educational awareness and training to hard enforcement as soon as possible.