The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of the electronic logging device (ELD) final rule, meaning the mandate is now in the hands of Department of Transportation. With the review of the driver coercion final rule also recently having been completed, the complementary regulations are available for publication at the DOT’s discretion.
The most recent update of the department’s significant rulemakings has the ELD rule set to be published Nov. 30, but that’s based on a Nov. 20 clearance by OMB. The anti-coercion rule is scheduled for Nov. 23.
The impending publications should come as no surprise: The ELD rule has been under review at OMB since July 30, and previously had been scheduled for publication in September.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Acting Administrator Scott Darling in October told attendees at the American Trucking Assns. (ATA) annual Management Conference & Exhibition that the rule was in the “final stages” and would be out “in the next few months.”
But ATA Senior VP of Policy and Regulatory Affairs Dave Osiecki was even more specific.
“We’re pretty confident that November is still the publication date,” Osiecki said at a recent ATA safety conference. “If you’re really hot to get this rule out because your competition doesn’t have ELDs, trust us, it’s going to happen—just be patient for few more weeks.
“We really do think that this administration is committed to getting this out.”
ATA, which has long advocated for e-logs, anticipates a two-year window to comply with the regulation, along with a four-year “grandfather” period to allow current electronic logging systems to be brought up to the new specification.
