the FMCSA gives ag haulers a few more months to adopt ELD...

Well yes, the FMCSA is justifying falsifying the log books. Your point? They have always given into the bull haulers, so it's really no surprise there.

 

If I keep a chicken in a cage does that qualify me as an ag hauler?

 

If livestock haulers were held to the letter of the law then the price of meat would sky rocket... And the only way to truck livestock across the country would be to have teams do it... Cattle can't stay on a truck much more than 24 to 30 hours and even that is pushing it in my opinion. If an animal can't walk off the truck under its own power at any auction yard, feed lot, or kill plant, then it doesn't get off the truck there at all. And then if you get into hauling a load of breeding stock valued at well over a million dollars who is going to pay for the one that dies in route because it was on the truck too long? I know I sure as hell couldn't afford to have one die on my watch. Not that I completely believe that livestock haulers should get special treatment, but I can also relate because I have run bull racks before myself, not to mention have spent a large portion of my life involved with or around cattle ranching. Somewhere something is going to have to give... As much as I'd like to think that the government should let drivers have a little more leeway, I don't imagine that is what is going to give. In the end the drivers and final consumers of products are going to be the ones to take it in the shorts. So that's kind of a double whammy for drivers that are also consumers.

 

My caveat of I've never run livestock, so take any opinion I have with a grain of salt...

That being said, if they are hauling a million dollar breeder, they can afford to stop every day and let the cows out at a holding pen while the driver takes his break.
Also, short of breeding and shows, is there really any long distance livestock hauling? If you routinely moves a cow 600 miles just to get it to a slaughterhouse, would that not be terribly inefficient? I'm sure there is a few, but I honestly cannot see it being "normal"
I guess, I'm mostly curious as to why livestock haulers cannot meet hos rules on a routine basis.

 

Also, another quote from the article, which makes me happier to finally see....

Delorenzo also said during the call the agency will soon publish new guidance for personal conveyance operations under the ELD mandate. The guidance will define “when a movement by a driver and carrier is not subject to hours of service regulations,” he said.

 

It's more efficient to move the cows from several farms to one central kill house than it is to build more kill houses. Same as anything else really.... difference being the animals can't stay in there too long or else they lose weight or die. And it's not like the driver can stop just anywhere to let them out to graze on the grass at any truck stop. A scheduling nightmare it would be. So sometimes they really hammer down to get the job done. Rest when empty.

 

I am hoping for all calamity to ensue. I want to see maximum chaos.