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NMPF Backs Legislation to Provide Milk Haulers with Added Flexibility

November 13, 2019

Last month, NMPF celebrated the introduction of the bipartisan Responsible & Efficient Agriculture Destination (TREAD) Act by Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA).  The measure will give milk haulers more flexibility to move bulk milk from the farm to the plant by adding a new 150 air-mile exemption to the back end of a trip.

“Milk is a highly perishable commodity that can now travel a longer journey from farm to plant as the dairy sector has evolved.  Therefore, it is critical to maintain a flexible regulatory climate for milk hauling.  We thank Reps. Angie Craig and Lloyd Smucker for their bipartisan bill to increase the hours of service exemption for agriculture – this measure will provide welcome relief to dairy producers across the country,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation.

Dairy farmers and haulers of other ag commodities have faced added regulatory strain in recent years with the implementation of a mandate that commercial motor vehicles be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELDs) if they move commodities and other goods beyond a certain distance.  This targeted legislation will provide relief from this mandate to many milk haulers who must transport bulk milk over longer distances than previously but will still come nowhere close to exceeding the drive time limits under hours of service rules.

NMPF looks forward to working with Reps. Craig and Smucker to advance this bill as part of highway legislation that Congress may take up next year.  The bill sponsors both serve on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and are well-positioned to advance this bill in a bipartisan way.