The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is providing an additional 90-day temporary waiver from the electronic logging device (ELD) rule for agriculture-related transportation as it prepares to publish “final guidance” on both the agricultural 150 air-mile hours-of-service (HOS) exemption and updated personal conveyance rules.
“We continue to see strong compliance rates across the country that improve weekly, but we are mindful of the unique work our agriculture community does and will use the following 90 days to ensure we publish more helpful guidance that all operators will benefit from,” noted newly-installed FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez.
Since December 2017, the agency said roadside compliance with the HOS record-keeping requirements, including the ELD rule, has been steadily increasing, with roadside compliance reaching a high of 96% in the most recent available data.
FMCSA added that there are over 330 separate self-certified ELD devices now listed on its registration list.
The agency also reiterated that starting April 1, “full enforcement” of the ELD rule begins and that commercial vehicles without an ELD will be placed out-of-service with the driver remaining out-of-service for 10 hours in accordance with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) criteria. At that point, to facilitate compliance, the driver will be allowed to travel to the next scheduled stop and should not be dispatched again without an ELD. If the driver is dispatched again without an ELD, the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action.
For more information, visit FMCSA’s ELD website at: www.fmcsa.dot.gov/eld
