ELD Violations Won’t Count Against CSA Scores During Transition Period

Derek Barrs, Florida's chief of commercial vehicle enforcement, asked for a show of hands among the state enforcement people in the room if they were ready for the ELD mandate. Photo: Deborah Lockridge

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Federal officials have taken another step to make the transition to mandatory electronic devices less painful.

If drivers are cited at roadside for not complying with the ELD rule come the Dec. 18 deadline, the citation will be a “no points cite” that will not affect the Safety Measurement System that feeds into CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) scores – through April 1.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials shared this news during the Southern Regional Road Show event Wednesday.

In late August, FMCSA and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced a phased-in approach to the ELD mandate and said it would delay implementing out-of-service criteria related to ELDs until April 1, 2018, and that each jurisdiction would have discretion as to whether they actually issue citations in the beginning.

As it has become increasingly obvious that much of the trucking industry as well as the enforcement community are not fully ready for the Dec. 18 ELD mandate deadline, the agency apparently felt it needed to go further.

Jon Dierberger, FMCSA field administrator, told the room full of enforcement officials and a smattering of fleet and insurance representatives that for violations cited at roadside for not having an ELD through April 1, there will be no SMS points impact. He confirmed to HDT that this was in a recent internal memo.

Anne Collins, associate administrator, FMCSA field operations, confirmed to HDT that this was a recent “corollary” to the previous announcement that ELD citations would not result in out of service orders, in order to be “clear ...Read the rest of this story

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Spot Truckload Van, Reefer Rates Remain Near Peak Levels

The availability of spot truckload freight slipped 1.6% and the number of posted trucks rebounded 7.6% for the week ending Nov. 11, according to DAT Solutions and its network of load boards.

National average spot van and reefer rates are hovering at or near peak levels due to higher fuel surcharges and strong demand for truckload capacity leading into the holiday shopping season, according to the freight-matching service provider. The general trend is for higher rates on eastbound lanes, with more demand for deliveries into the population centers in the Northeast.

National average spot truckload rates compared to the previous week:

All reported spot rates include fuel surcharges. The national average price of on-highway diesel added 4 cents to $2.92 per gallon during this time.

The number of posted van loads was up 1% after a 7% jump last week. The number of available trucks increased 8%, which led the van load-to-truck ratio downward from 6.3 to 5.9 van loads per truck. The van load-to-truck ratio is still twice as high as the same period a year ago.

Spot van rates moderated or remain elevated in key markets across the country compared to the previous week:

One harbinger of that west-to-east freight flow: the average Los Angeles-Chicago spot rate climbed 11 cents to $1.81 per mile, not exceptionally high, but still strong rate considering that this is a busy and competitive intermodal lane, according to DAT.

In the spot reefer market, the number of load posts increased 4% to build on ...Read the rest of this story

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