FMCSA extends ELD ag waiver to June 18

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will extend a waiver for agricultural commodities and livestock haulers to comply with the electronic logging device mandate, until June 18.

The extended waiver was announced March 13. It will publish in tomorrow’s edition of the Federal Register.

Earlier this month, the agency announced the extended waiver, as well as plans to release additional guidance for drivers and law enforcement for the 150-air-mile exemption and personal conveyance guidance.

The original waiver for ag-commodities haulers expired March 18. The new waiver is retroactive to March 18. It applies to all eligible motor carriers that handle agricultural commodities as defined under 49 CFR 395.2.

Drivers covered by the waiver include those hauling “any agricultural commodity, nonprocessed food, feed, fiber or livestock.” Livestock is defined as “cattle, elk, reindeer, bison, horses, deer, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), fish used for food and other animals designated … that are part of a foundation herd or offspring.”

The final guidance updates are expected to publish sometime in the next 60 to 90 days, according to Joe DeLorenzo, director of FMCSA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance.

Full enforcement of the ELD rule is starting April 1. From that date forward, a carrier that doesn’t have an ELD when required will be placed out of service. The driver will remain out-of-service for 10 hours in accordance with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance criteria.

At that point, to facilitate compliance, the driver will be allowed to travel to the next scheduled stop and should not be dispatched again without an ELD. If the driver is dispatched again without an ELD, the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action.