FMSCA to Exempt Short-Term Truck Rentals from ELD Rule
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is expected to announce on Oct. 11 that it will grant an exemption from being required to use an electronic logging device to “all drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles rented for 8 days or less, regardless of reason.”
The exemption will apply to the ELD mandate that kicks in on Dec. 18— just 10 weeks away.
FMCSA made it clear that drivers who will operate under this short-term rental exemption will remain subject to the standard hours-of-service limits and so will have to maintain a paper record of duty status (RODS) if required, and maintain a copy of the rental agreement on the vehicle.
The exemption results from a petition filed with the agency by the Truck Renting and Leasing Association.
FMCSA pointed out that TRALA, in its petition, was “concerned about the unintended technical and operational consequences that will unfairly and adversely affect short-term rental vehicles,” given that it will be “unlikely” that most of the ELDs used by these drivers will able to “communicate properly” with a rental company’s telematics platform.
“TRALA states that while FMCSA recognized during the rulemaking process these issues associated with a lack of interoperability among ELD systems, and required certain technical specifications in the final rule, the agency stopped short of requiring full interoperability among ELDs,” FMCSA stated in its notice to be published in the Federal Register.
In an Oct. 10 news release on the petition being granted, TRALA emphasized that the exemption will not apply to drivers of rental vehicles operating for longer than eight days. They will still have to comply with the new ELD rule.
TRALA President and CEO Jake Jacoby met with FMCSA on Oct. 5 at their request to explain the agency’s decision. “While TRALA had the support of all its members, the vast majority …Read the rest of this story
