Continuing in its so-far-unfruitful appeal to lawmakers, courts and regulators to reevaluate the federal electronic logging device mandate, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has asked the leaders of the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to hold a hearing on its concerns surrounding ELD implementation.
OOIDA says there are “mounting issues” with the mandate, pointing to malfunctioning devices, questions about FMCSA’s self-certified registry of ELD suppliers and the mandate’s impact on truck parking as reasons for Congress to hold an oversight hearing.
Todd Spencer, who signed the letter requesting the hearing, says it would help members of Congress “understand the difficulties” of the mandate and what “administrative or legislative remedies may be needed.”
“Exemption requests have even been filed by manufacturers of ELDs currently on the market – and still listed on the FMCSA website as available for purchase – who have discovered their devices are not fully compliant,” he writes. “These compliance issues came as no surprise to the truckers who have been forced to use ELDs. Since the mandate took effect, truckers have routinely shared with us substantial troubles they’ve experienced related to devices, including several vendor-wide systems failures, faulty GPS tracking, inaccurate recording of duty statuses, engine disablements, speed irregularities, abysmal customer service from manufacturers, a worsening truck parking crisis and many more.”
Spencer also says in the letter that an oversight hearing would allow Congress to ensure accountability and transparency of how public dollars are being spent. “Among the fundamental responsibilities of Congress is to maintain vigorous oversight of the federal agencies it tasks with implementing new regulations, especially those that will have a significant impact on American businesses and the nation’s economy,” he says.
OOIDA late last year filed a request with FMCSA asking for an exemption from the ELD mandate for small business truckers with clean safety records. The agency has not yet issued a verdict on the request.
OOIDA also ardently fought the mandate in court, eventually appealing to the Supreme Court to hear its case. However, the Supreme Court denied to hear the case, leaving in place a lower court ruling upholding the mandate.
Several states in recent weeks have introduced proposals to block enforcement of the mandate in their state, though those proposals have not advanced yet beyond their introduction.
