Dive Brief:

• UPS's request that drivers be allowed to change duty status outside of and away from their vehicle has been granted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for a five-year minimum, Overdrive reported. The change in status will be made via drivers' mobile device-based ELDs.
• A second waiver allowing carriers to make multiple yard moves without numerous re-entries on a mobile device was also granted. It too will serve for a five-year minimum. The FMCSA requires the ELD must be able to switch to “driving” mode when needed, when the truck exceeds 20 mph, or when the truck exits a geo-fenced yard.
• However, an exemption requested by a water service hauling fleet was refused due to the company's lack of proof regarding lack of cab space. The company argued that the trucks rarely travel; the FMCSA countered that it had not seen a demonstration of how a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level achieved with an ELD would occur without one.

Dive Insight:

The struggle to incorporate ELDs into the trucking industry continues, resistance continuing as the adoption deadline draws near.

Every possible objection to ELDs has been mentioned by truckers in their fight against mandatory installation of the technology. Regardless of ongoing attempts to fight the ruling in court and the resulting failures, in addition to strikes affecting various trades and industries, the mandate appears here to stay.

The FMCSA is allowing a lot of flexibility within its slow phasing in of the ELD rules, no doubt to accommodate unhappy owner-operators. At present, drivers remain in Phase One of the process, during which they may continue using paper logs, logging software, Automatic On Board Recording Devices (AOBRDs) or ELDs that are self-certified and registered with the FMCSA.

As of December 18, 2017, Phase Two will only accept AOBRDS that were installed prior to this deadline or self-certified and registered ELDs with FMCSA. It is during Phase Two that the flexibility appears, as an alliance of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials said they will not enforce the mandate's out-of-service criteria until April 1, 2018, in order to provide the industry time to adjust to new rules. 

However, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) warned that the delay doesn't provide carte blanche protection. Officials will issue citations for lack of equipment beginning in December 2018 and continue to mark vehicles out of service for other hours-of-service violations. By December 16, 2019, or Phase Three, all drivers and carriers subject to the rule must use self-certified ELDs that are registered with FMCSA.