An amendment to a House omnibus appropriations bill offered by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) to extend for one year the mandate for installing Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) on trucks to monitor drivers’ hours of service was defeated by a 173-246 vote last night. Sixty-seven Republicans, joined 179 Democrats to reject a proposal that would have denied funding in fiscal 2018 to enforce the rule on ELDs.
Currently, the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) mandates that all motor carriers required to maintain Records of Duty Status (RODS) for Hours of Service (HOS) compliance for their drivers must install ELDs by Dec. 17, 2017. AGC has sought an exemption from this requirement for construction industry truck drivers but that request has not been accepted. Babin also previously introduced H.R. 3282, to extend for two years the ELD deadline and his amendment attempted to address the issue in a must pass bill. Despite H.R. 3282 having 42 cosponsors, the strong vote in opposition does not bode well for the extension. AGC will continue to push for relief from the ELD mandate. Contact your representatives and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 3282 and delay this mandate.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.