FMCSA denies trucker’s request for exemption from ELD mandate

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied a trucker’s request for an exemption from the ELD mandate.

In a notice that will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, Sept. 16, FMCSA announced its decision to deny the application from owner-operator Arbert Ibraimi, who said that an electronic logging device wasn’t an efficient use of funds for his one-truck operation. Alternatively, Ibraimi said he would use paper logs to record his hours of service.

“Since this is a one-man operation with limited funds, the funds could be better invested in a safety management control system that the company would benefit more from in its beginning stages,” Ibraimi wrote in his application for exemption.

FMCSA said that Ibraimi, who operates GTLM Transport, failed to show how his company could achieve an equivalent level of safety while working under the exemption.

“ELDS help drivers more accurately track driving time to ensure compliance with hours-of-service regulations, which are designed to help drivers maintain alertness while operating commercial motor vehicles,” the agency wrote in the denial notice. “Additionally, ELDs decrease the likelihood that the record-of-duty-status could be altered after the date the records were generated, without leaving an electronic trail.”

Application generates interest

Although the exemption request was for Ibraimi’s company alone, it generated quite a bit of interest from others in the trucking industry.

According to FMCSA, it received 122 comments with 62 in support, 32 in opposition and 28 with no position.

Many truck drivers argued that ELDs have no proven safety benefits.

“Absolutely make an exemption for this man,” Dawson Fowler wrote. “Trucking market is tough. Excessive rules and regulations from the DOT and FMCSA only make it tougher and more difficult to start a successful business. There is nothing unsafe about paper logs. They are actually more safe than ELDs, from what studies have shown.”

The Truck Safety Coalition was among those who filed comments in opposition.

“(Safety) must be the top priority, not the last to be addressed with whatever funds remain available,” the coalition wrote. “Safety has a cost, and it must be paid by all industry stakeholders if meaningful progress will be made in reducing truck crash deaths and injuries.” LL