In The News
CVSA announces it will hold off out-of-service criteria related to ELD rule until April
GREENBELT, Md. – There’s a bit of good news for carriers still clinging to hope for a delay to the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, although it’s just a sliver of a reprieve.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced August 28 that while enforcement of the ELD mandate will begin as scheduled on December 18, the out-of-service criteria (OOSC) associated with the ELD mandate will not go into effect until April 1, 2018.
It a written statement, the CVSA clarified that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) ELD compliance deadline is still set for Dec. 18. 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 an ELD.
The CVSA statement explained setting the April 1 effective date for applying the ELD OOSC will provide carriers, 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 significant changes in regulatory requirements. After consulting with the FMCSA and members of industry, the CVSA board of directors agreed the phased-in approach will help promote a smoother transition to the new ELD requirement.
In its announcement of this decision, the CVSA stressed that this is not a delay to the mandate itself, nor will it have any bearing on OOSC for any other hours-of-service violations.
Also, it doesn’t change the provision allowing motor carriers who are already using an automatic onboard recording device to continue using that device until December 16, 2019.
For more information about the ELD rule, visit fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/electronic-logging-devices.