No ELD Mandate Proposal This Year, FMCSA Says

The proposed rule on electronic logging devices for trucks will not be published until 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Dec. 20.

“We expect to publish the [proposed] rule in the near future,” FMCSA spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “It is currently at [the Office of Management and Budget], and we have no new updates on a specific date.”

As ordered by Congress, an ELD rule was to be published by Oct. 1. However, in March, FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said the agency would not be able to meet that deadline. FMCSA did not send the rule to OMB for review until Aug. 9.

OMB declined to comment on when it might finish its review.

Congress ordered FMCSA to write a mandate to have ELDs on all trucks in MAP-21, the two-year transportation bill signed by President Obama in 2012.

The trucking industry was split on ELDs. American Trucking Associations backs the proposed rule, which supporters said would help monitor driver hours of service. The mandate is opposed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.