FMCSA accepts Old Dominion’s request to withdraw ELD exemption request

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is closing the file on an ELD exemption request after the carrier that originally asked for relief withdrew its application.

FMCSA announced in a filing in Monday’s edition of The Federal Register that it had received and accepted a request from Old Dominion Freight Lines to withdraw its request for an ELD exemption. The company had initially requested and received a limited waiver for itself and other similarly-situated motor carriers that were working with ELD provider PeopleNet on a software fix to update its automatic on board recording devices.

In its notice announcing the withdrawal, FMCSA said that Old Dominion filed a letter with the agency on March 12 asking that its exemption request be withdrawn. Although the letter offers no specific reason for dropping its pursuit of the waiver, the notice states that “Old Dominion no longer needs the exemption.”

In its original petition on Nov. 28, 2017, Thomasville, N.C.-based Old Dominion noted that it was “an early adopter” of automatic on board recording devices in its fleet of over 8,500 power units. The company said it was working with PeopleNet to complete the development of software to integrate electronic logging data with the company’s fleet management and safety systems. The limited waiver granted by the agency in March applied to any motor carrier wishing to integrate PeopleNet’s ELD software into fleet management systems.