FMCSA enforcement director talks ELDs

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mandate for electronic logging devices took effect Monday.

On Friday, Land Line Now Host Mark Reddig sat down with Joe DeLorenzo, director of  FMCSA’s enforcement and compliance office, to discuss the mandate. Among the highlights of the interview are FMCSA’s promises to work with the industry to resolve issues during the rollout.

FMCSA has a page on their website devoted to ELDs, including links to frequently asked questions.

You can listen to the full interview below.

Among the issues, DeLorenzo addresses during his interview are questions about enforcement, including ELD exemptions and inconsistencies in enforcement among jurisdictions.

“Between now and April 1, we’re understanding of the transition that the industry is going through, and enforcement will be handled accordingly,” DeLorenzo said.

When it comes to dealing with potential inconsistencies between state enforcement agencies, DeLorenzo says FMCSA will “continue to meet with our state partners” to ensure a consistent approach.

If a driver or motor carrier feel like they’ve been issued a violation that should be covered by an exemption, DeLorenzo says the DataQ process can be utilized to resolve the discrepancy.

“We are going to be closely monitoring what violations are being cited, and we’ll work to address those,” he says.

When asked why the agency opted to allow device manufacturers to self-certify their compliance with the mandate rather than establish a third-party verification system, DeLorenzo said the agency’s approach is consistent with “how we manage certification of safety equipment.”

“We do review the applications to make sure they have the minimum amount of information required by the regulation,” he said. “If there is a problem… our first step is to work with the manufacturer to try and address that… without any issues related to the trucking company.”

He also says FMCSA will continue to review exemption requests even though the mandate is now in effect.

“A company or a driver can ask for an exemption at any time,” he said. “They will continue to go through the process, they will get published, we will take comments on them and we’ll make a determination as to what the final outcome will be.”

Listen to the full interview here.