Spending bill extends ELD waiver for livestock haulers to Sept. 30

Livestock haulers will receive an extended waiver from the electronic logging device mandate, thanks to the most recent government spending bill.

The $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed by President Trump on March 23 includes a provision that gives livestock and insect haulers until Sept. 30 to comply with the federal mandate for electronic logs.

Section 132 of the bill stipulates that none of the funds made available to the Department of Transportation “may be obligated or expended to implement, administer, or enforce the requirements” of the ELD mandate for commercial motor vehicles transporting livestock or insects.

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 language in the spending bill only applies to those carriers who haul livestock and insects. The extended waiver comes on the heels of FMCSA’s March 13 announcement of an additional 90-day extension for all agricultural commodities haulers.

The extended delay is expected to provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with additional time to educate livestock haulers on the devices, and provides the agency with extra time to re-evaluate the hours of service rules for the industry.