Makers of electronic logs are warning carriers not to wait until the last moment to comply with the U.S. mandate scheduled for Dec. 18, 2017.
Despite a measure last month by a House committee to review the rule, providers say they don’t expect any delays and warn of a supply crunch for electronic components later this year, reports Fleet Owner.
With the House and Senate both in recess until Sept. 5, “we are not sure it is even possible by the time the mandate is supposed to take effect that they could get something done,” said Eric Witty, PeopleNet’s vice president of product management.
“It is business as usual for us,” said Tom Neppl, vice president of hardware solutions at Omnitracs. “We are proceeding as the Dec. 18 date will occur … We don’t anticipate any change.”
Norm Ellis, president of ERoad, said fleets with between 10-50 trucks are the most likely to hesitate on ELD implementation.
“They can’t wait too much longer,” said Ellis, who recommends a four-to-six week transition period to allow the back office staff to undergo the “cultural change” that comes with ELD.
With no delay imminent, the ELD executives expect a surge in demand, a situation Omnitracs’ Neppl warned could be complicated by a shortage of electronic components.
“These aren’t parts that sit on the shelf somewhere,” he said. “I think it behooves the industry … to take into consideration the macroeconomics going on that could potentially drive some constraints on ELD solutions.”
The result, PeopleNet’s Witty said, is that “fleets could end up being forced to adopt anything to be compliant. It could be whoever has something available, versus the preferred vendors they want to work with.”
Full article here.