FMCSA says no ELD for Livestock haulers until further notice

My first driving job was with a big farming operation. It was interesting to go from the CDL training process (which makes truck driving sound like rocket science) to a farm. I worked with guys that didn’t have a CDL, just a “farm endorsement,” which is only a written test here in MI. They could drive circles around most of the people who come out of a truck driving school, and they didn’t even want to be in a truck. They wanted to be in a tractor.

I currently haul cattle, but I do local work and my company chooses to use ELD. The biggest issue I have is the 10 hour break causing me to get a late start the next day, which means my last load of cattle might have to wait another day to be slaughtered. I simply do not need a 10 hour break. If anything, the ELD causes me to rush, drive faster, etc so that I can go off duty ASAP and not screw up my next day. I think the problem is not the livestock exemption, but the HOS in general. The rules need to be relaxed for all drivers.

 

@michigan83, you are aware that you can use the MAP21 ag exemption within 150 mile of the farm, correct? Comes in right handy. Just shut down within 150 miles of the pickup, and then drive in off duty (we used PC mode with the annotation "off duty ag exempt map21". That way, you can giddyup while still completing your 10.

 

It takes a special type of person to haul live loads. One must understand the consequences of the load shifting if one takes a corner, curve, brakes to hard, or swerves to miss something. Also in livestock hauling we not only have the D.O.T, FDA, P.E.T.A (people eating tasty animals) and other health departments that regulate our industry. The death of livestock, health concerns, and the processing in a timely manner all contribute to why livestock haulers are exempt from the ELD at this time. How long this will be in effect is only known by those Government politicians in Washington. Paper logs are not a way we cheat the system, but a simple reprive to do our job, and to get the steaks, pork, chicken and such in which you eat on a daily basis.