CVSA Eases off on ELD compliance
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced it will begin enforcing and documenting the electronic logging device mandate requirements on Dec. 18, 2017. However, inspectors will not begin placing carriers out-of-service for not having a compliant ELD until April 1, 2018.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s congressionally mandated ELD compliance deadline is still set for Dec. 18, 2017. On that date, inspectors and roadside enforcement personnel will begin documenting violations on roadside inspection reports and, at the jurisdiction’s discretion, will issue citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers operating vehicles without a compliant ELD. Beginning April 1, 2018, inspectors will start placing commercial motor vehicle drivers out of service if their vehicle is not equipped with the required device. This does not change the provision allowing a motor carrier to use a grandfathered automatic onboard recording device until Dec. 16, 2019.
This announcement does not impact enforcement of the out-of-service criteria for other hours-of-service violations.
CVSA supports moving forward with the compliance date as specified in the rule. However, setting an April 1, 2018, effective date for applying the ELD OOSC will provide the motor carrier industry, shippers and the roadside enforcement community with time to adjust to the new requirement before vehicles are placed out of service for ELD violations.
CVSA member jurisdictions have used this phased-in approach in the past when implementing a significant change in regulatory requirements. The CVSA Board of Directors, in consultation with FMCSA and the motor carrier industry, agreed that the phased-in approach to implementation of the ELD requirements outlined in the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria will help promote a smoother transition to the new ELD requirement.
A letter was sent to FMCSA notifying the agency of CVSA’s commitment to implementing the new requirement, as scheduled, on Dec. 18, 2017, and noting the April 1, 2018, effective date for applying the ELD OOSC.
