How Realistic Is The ELD Rule? - Copy

The push for mandating the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in trucks across the nation got yet another boost.

Speaking at a news conference on June 15, New York’s Sen. Chuck Schumer has called on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to expedite regulations to mandate ELDs. He also pressed the DOT to increase the minimum level of insurance that is required for trucking companies.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is already in the process of pursuing regulations that would require ELDs and higher insurance minimums. Earlier this month, the House voted to block a rulemaking that would increase minimum insurance levels.

In his statement to the press, Schumer evidently failed to notice the point that the FMCSA had already delivered a rule on ELDs, which was struck down by a federal appeals court.

“To have a rule like this, which affects the safety of the truck drivers themselves and every motorist on the road, languish for four years, is just too much,” Schumer said in his statement. “So I say to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration, get it done and get it done now.”

The public comment period on the rule regarding the mandate of ELDs ends June 26. At that point, the FMCSA will begin work on a final rule, taking into account feedback that was collected during the 90-day comment period.

If passed, the bill would require the FMCSA to publish a final ELD rule by Jan. 30, 2015. The agency typically creates a final rule within a few months of the end of public comment periods on proposed rules. This deadline provides the agency seven months to publish its final ELD rule.

Schumer is the latest in a long line of government officials to call for action regarding ELDs following a crash involving a Walmart tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike that killed one person and left four others, including comedian Tracy Morgan, critically injured.