Since OOIDA’s request for an exemption from the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate was denied, there is a different request which might be the last, best hope for small business truckers who want to see some relief from ELDs. But time is running out to make your voice heard on the proposed exemption.
The exemption request comes from the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC). While it is similar to the OOIDA exemption request, there is one key difference.
OOIDA’s request asked for an exemption for all small businesses. Even some anti-ELD advocates claimed that was too broad for the FMCSA to seriously consider as that would include almost all carriers with yearly revenue under $27.5 million. The SBTC request meanwhile would apply to only motor carriers with under 50 employees (both driving and non-driving).
There have been over 1,600 comments submitted in the Federal Register. During that time, there was a technical issue which was preventing some people from submitting a comment, so the deadline to submit a comment has been extended to Monday, July 16th.
If you would like, you can submit a comment here.
Source: overdrive, overdrive, DOT, DOT, truckersreport
Elton Clark says
How does this apply for drivers/ carriers with pre 1999 equipment? Do they still have to apply?
Perry Keener says
You people just absolutely refuse to listen or cooperate. You can put a definate end to all this government tierny if you simply just park those trucks till those jokers get their mind right. But you WON’T do it cause you’re a bunch of scared little sissys.
So let them keep on pushing you around and bullying you cause you’re too big a coward to stand up for yourself. The real problem is you.
Luis says
This. Perry, you are correct. Truckers are too afraid of short term loss. We need to think of long term gain. If we park the trucks for a week, the country stops. Think about that. Everything stops. We all know that, and yet we can’t come together and make a united effort. It’s all about organization.
Luis says
If we do it the week after thanksgiving, everyone gets a nice holiday, then everything will be screwed up for the holiday season. We’d have congress fixing this mess on Christmas Day and new regulations the first of January.
Lady DOE says
THATS A GREAT IDEAL! THAT WHEN THE RICH ORDER ALL THEIR TROPHY WIVIES NEW RED SPORTS CAR AND HIGH DOLLAR GIFTS. LETS HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS. BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW WHEN MOMA IS NOT HAPPY NOBODY IS HAPPY IN THE HOUSE. LET SEND OUT PAPERS AT ALL TRUCK STOPS AND LETS GET SIGNED UP. WE WILL PUT THINGS ON HOLD FOR AWHILE SO THEY WILL LISTEN TO US. GO HOME TO EAT FOR THANKSGIVING.
Randy Robles says
It’s not being a pussy the truckers will not park their trucks for a day let alone a week, as there are too many large carriers that will just take the work to keep moving.
Greek Cruz says
Truckers need to strategically park at busy diesel pumps, especially at those diesel pumps that mega carriers use. Truckers stopping for a week would put America into shook and have ripple effects throughout the world because of how big the american economy is.
jd tomblin says
I agree with Perry, today’s “no sand” truck driver is the problem with the industry,you modern day steering wheel holders are a bunch of whinning sissy’s…you have the power to change anything and everything wrong in this industry…but you will only continue to moan and groan and complain…a few of us parked our trucks in response to this CDL crap in the early 90s but most of you just kept on rolling and whinning on the CB…now you whine on these phones…want a little cheese to go with your “white” , its all you’ll ever get and deserve. But as ” jack” said ” you can’t handle the truth.”
KD says
If people park there trucks how do they pay There bills?
franky figgs says
That’s what this country is now is a bunch of effeminate Pansies where the men are women and the women are men and it’s only going to get worse everybody’s giving up all their freedom for a little security when in reality there is no threat at all but everybody is indoctrinated and brainwashed by the mainstream media it will only get worse from here
alex says
Perry, we’ve been screwed for the last 15 – 20 years. Drivers are not afraid or uncooperative. We are divided. How many drivers read this post? 20? 100? 1000? from 1.5 million Small Carriers Drivers and O/Os.
We are a Big, Decisive Force, but it will take another 15 -20 years to create an Organization to represent our interests. Because if the Organization will say Strike, it Will be 1,5 million trucks strike. Enough to negotiate the issues.
nomad says
AMEN
Chuck Herzog says
I agree with you all I have been out here 31 years I’m only 49 years old but I’m thinking about getting out of it cause the government has made a mess out of this industry and this country and the thing is they don’t care they say these led wad put in for safety have they not seen the way these drivers are driving now because they are up against the clock and the parking issue the government needs to pull their head out of their ass and quit being so controlling and also quit stealing from us American people and treat us truckers fairly god bless all of drivers and be safe out there
Mike says
True. Where im parked now i just watched a driver pull out not swing out wide enough an his trailer swiped the tail end of a flatbed.
RC Jones says
Since the eld mandate I’ve been less productive and operated in a careless way to the point of near recklessness. The highways stay cluttered with drivers racing against the clock to juggle the time in order to abide by the eld mandate. The long and short of it is the highways or not a safe as a year ago.
The one size fits all approach just isn’t working.It has caused a more dangerous environment and lives will be lost.
Richard Preacherman Masters says
It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!!!!,PLAIN AND SIMPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lady DOE says
TWEET TRUMP! HE WILL READ IT. TWEET HIM TO STOP THIS MADNESS OF ELDS!
Greek Cruz says
As long as Mitch McConnell and his stupid wife run the department of transportation Trump cant do a damn thing
Patrick Norton says
ELD’s, driver facing dash cams, sleeper berths smaller then prison cells, truck stop air quality 1,000 times over EPA limits. Newbie drivers with 14 hours behind the wheel and 4 wheelers playing Pokeman Go, texting, talking on phones and having a Garmin only to punch in addresses while driving. What are the numbers of injury/death this week. My corporation 3 crashes, one death heart failure, one injury unsafe truck mechanical, one low bridge. Sign with flashing lights said: 11.4 and speak nor read no English.
Dennis Wesberry says
Everything is going exactly how the big companies wanted it to go! To put the small companies out of business and put all the independent truck drivers in their stable. Talking about constitutional rights, I am a left leg amputee every other year I have to take off 2 or 3 days work spend $1,000 and get a medical waiver, it’s not to see if my leg grew back it’s all about the money and so the government can keep more control over us
Greek Cruz says
Corporatism has taken over the government and they are pushing the smaller guys out of business. I cant believe these mega carriers only pay $1000 a week and have their drivers bend over for them.
Scott says
Anybody asking for an ELD exemption is literally just saying “please let me continue to break the law.”
CJ Curenton says
If the law is wrong, then more power to them!
I started driving in the late 80’s, a linehaul for the old Purolator Courier. I got my cdl a year ahead of time, and thoroughly enjoyed my driving experience until Wiley Sanders started running by the qualcomm in 1993/94…
From that day forward, trying to make my body wake up at the wrong time and go to sleep at the wrong time, my driving career went downhill until, in 2012, I got my Disability and put my cb / gps in my pickup…
My son still drives for Wiley Sanders, 100% legal, and he says they have adapted very well…the dispatchers and load planners work WITH the drivers and shippers, not just handing out loads willy-nilly…
Breaking the law if it’s bad?
Read up on George Washington, Ben Franklin, John and Sam Adams, etc…
Breaking bad laws is why there is a UNITED STATES, instead of New Britain or West Brittania, etc…
Greek Cruz says
If slavery was lawful does it make slavery right? Law is not always perfect, so stop pretending it is.
alex says
Scott, before to place a so peremptorily and categorical comment
we should realize that not all laws are right. And not everybody always agrees with existing regulations. For example, the Jim Crow racial segregation law was abolished in 1965.
Regarding tracking, if I safely deliver the load from point A to point B and making all schedules, it’s really not yours, nor a government business when I sleep, eat and use the bathroom. In the otherwise, it will mean the sort of slavery, which of course not you, not me and not a US Constitution will welcome.
Steve Duggan says
Either wipe it out for everyone or make everyone use them. No special treatment
alex says
Not so fast, Steve. We do need a special treatment. If you are a big carrier driver, and your carrier feels comfortable with any regulations, and ATA, presenting big carriers interests, agree with those regulations, we have to respect it.
From the other side, If I am an O/O, it’s my business how I want to manage the time of my operation. And I am asking, please, to respect my decisions.
Otherwise, as a big carrier, Drop&hook setup driver will be ready to drive in 15 minutes and drop the trailer in another 15 minutes and I will be held on live loading + unloading for average 10 hours. Can’t have the same timing regulations for the companies with absolutely different timing setups. It is unconstitutional, discriminating against the Small Trucking Companies and any constitutional attorney can prove it.
william taylor says
New drivers coming into the business don’t see or understand what the old tymers are complaining about because they came in on ELDs and they don’t know anything about paper logs so they not going to stand by yr side and fight for something that they have no idea about so they will keep hauling freight.
Alberto martinez says
Yea agree
Stelica Balcan says
Stop eld regulations people pass the way and move out of business everyday
CJ Curenton says
I have long believed that a $20 electronic device, probably already installed in the trucker GPS models, where a truck could run pretty much as the driver felt safe, BUT…
BUT, once a day, the truck must be shut down for 8 to 10 hours. I prefer 8, myself.
There would be 3 bright LED’s mounted on the cab of the truck for all the world to see…
Green means the driver is fresh off his break and is not nearing his limits.
Yellow would signal that the driver has been working for more than 12 hours since the break ended.
A red LED would signal that the driver has worked more than 15 hours since the end of the last break….
This little device would accomplish every one of the needs of the logbook / hours of service rules, but it would not involve a bunch of expensive compliance workers and equipment.
I think even the most dedicated chicken-hauler or the newest union guy / day hauler could adapt easily to such a tracker, and it would show the DOT man at a glance that Joe Blow Trucker is at least making an effort to follow the rules…
If only I could get a million of you’se goys to back me….
alex says
Yes. I am the first one to support your idea to clearly display who is in violation.
We have a very smart people among truck drivers and the Internet is the perfect mating ground for ideas.
Let’s call it a COLLECTIVE BRAIN or the Collective intelligence, but for a Gods sake, can we create our organization which would protect our rights and our interests? Can we eventually stop to be so weak, so divided, and becomes same Organized, United, and Powerfull as our Opponents who seems to have a tendency to create a Procrustean bed of arbitrary standards to which exact conformity is forced.
Shawn says
Great idea but it’s not the average driver causing the hold up it’s the contracted driver threw Swift Werner JB C
unt and the other big name brands that threaten to fire a driver for not complying but what they don’t understand is that they can’t fire everyone.
Joyce bolin says
I know the point is safety but it’s not safe. Most drivers can’t find safe places to park, that’s not right. Most drivers can’t stop if feeling under the weather because now they are under the gun. I find it appalling when our government puts a box into a vehicle which tells grown people when they can sleep or take a break, bet you in government would be apposed if we the people mandated the same laws to you. 30 minute breaks 10 hours shut down, most grown adults don’t sleep 8 hours let alone 10. The government needs to listen and hear our drivers pretty soon the Americans will also get a taste as now pricing has gone up and stores are now showing empty spots due to ELDS as time goes on it will worsen. You safety efforts has not worked I think we hear more accidents now due to a box telling someone to sleep, when you can’t sleep then have to drive there is the problem, I wonder how you OUR government would appreciate us telling you to go to bed even if your not teady. Make those changes before we the people pay higher prices because you can bet the public will speak loudly about that and when we can’t get what we need. Changes are supose to be good not worse, if you have a small company this really hurts them the large companies want this rule because it puts the little man out, that is not what our country should be about it should be an equal playing field, stop taking kick backs from these conglomerates only to kick the small guys out, they have famlies also think about those children and wives who depend on our drivers.
bebout excavating and trucking says
I run a hotshot business,one driver,sole proprieter,have long ago got away from semi driving,over 40 yrs driving,a large selection of trucks.before the ELD if I got tired I would pull over and sleep a couple hours and have done well,now I have to push to beat the time log,and have seen more semi wrecks ,more drivers taking chances than ever,even to the point of semi trucks looking like a convoy,no place to park,officers saying you cant park here,I would like the eld log dropped,but this does not look like a thing in the near future,if a few items were change it would make the eld more user friendly,if your tired pull over and it not be against your eld,if your out of time and within 30 minutes of your destination,log it that way,and it not go against your eld,more and more drivers are dropping this occupation,just because of our age,you would not believe some of the old experiences I have seen.I try and drive safetly and have a good driving record.
alex says
It all started with semantic (which has to do with formal logic).
For example, do we say in the documents: “Police”?
Or “sworn police officer”?
Not really.
Usually, we specify:
State, County, Army, Correction, Probation and Parole, Transit, Port Authority, Campus, School resource, Natural Resources, Forest Park, Marine, Fish and Game, Gun Control, Liquor Control, Veterans Affairs, Housing Authority, Mint, Riot, SPCA – before we say “police”.
And everybody understands that, for example, Army Police or Marine Police have different regulations and setups then SPCA Police or Liquor Control Police. So, where, all of a sudden, the generic term “Truck Driver” came from?
And I am not talking about differences between Flatbed or Car hauler and Reefer or life stock trucking operations.
I am talking about the Crucial Timing Difference between Big (JB Hunt – 10,000 trucks, 40,000 trailers, 2001 statistic) company drivers and Small (1 – 15 trucks) company drivers.
I have a problem that seems nobody study or don’t want to study: Big Carriers have a 90% of 15 min. Drop&Hook or Repower set up operations plus an ability to reschedule the appointments being the broker by itself when a Small Companies Drivers experience Live loading/Unloading time which varies from 2 to 8 hours, let say 5 hours average plus unwillingness by brokers to reschedule the appointments.
Simple arithmetic show 5 X 2 = 10 hours spend Small Companies Drivers against 0,25 x 2 = 0.5 hours spend Big Carriers Drivers at Shipping/Receiving.
And, if drivers really paid by miles, so who ATA (American Truckers Association – the real engine behind all policies and regulations changes and “Would be” an “Expert Opinion Voice” for the Lawmakers ) represents?
Are those “experts” hiding behind the generic term “truck driver” (semantic confusion big time) without addressing the huge timing difference between different carriers?
In other words, if 70-34-14-11 HOS are OK for the big carriers with outstanding operational flexibility potential, the same time frame HOS are counterproductive in the case with the Small Trucking Companies.
For constitutional attorney would be no difficult to prove that the HOS regulation, as is now, is unconstitutional and discriminating against the Small Trucking Companies.
I don’t want bad drivers on the road.
I want the rules to be severely enforced.
But, looking for the simplicity and unification process for the DOT officers inspection, do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The Bill of Lading have a starting and destination points.
Odometer has a mileage record in case everybody agrees on 11 hours driving in the 24 hours period, say 600 miles.
The Fuel and the Toll Tickets show the driver activity.
More than that, are we really want to know when driver eat or using the bathroom?
ELDs for the Small Carriers are the burden.
George Kane says
I been driving 30 years been on paper the whole time,I have a run to where it takes me 1 1/2 hrs to load 1/2 from my yard and 3 hrs to get where I’m unloading ,then when it’s time to unload I sit sometimes 8 to 10 hrs trying to get unloaded , So I’m not driving and sleeping most of that time but I used my 14 hrs up,so I have no drive time left,legally I have to sit another 10hrs,but like I said I been sleeping most of that time , so I have 2 1/2 hr drive back and legally can’t