NMPF Wins Delay on Electronic Logging Mandate, Works to Improve Ag Exemption
April 5, 2018
NMPF is working to relieve the dairy industry from a pending mandate that dictates all commercial trucks be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELDs) to track compliance with federal hours of service (HOS) regulations.
The mandate took effect last fall, but agricultural haulers received a three-month exemption until March. NMPF joined others in agriculture in successfully petitioning for an additional three-month delay. As a result, the mandate will now take effect this June.
At the same time, NMPF is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve and clarify the existing statutory HOS exemption for haulers moving agricultural commodities from farm to plant. NMPF believes that a dairy terminal or transfer station should be considered a “source” of agricultural commodities, and thus be exempt from the time limitation. NMPF also commented to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on how to apply the HOS exemption for agricultural commodities when a hauler is loading a commodity at multiple sources during one trip. Milk is a uniquely perishable commodity, and haulers must often stop at multiple dairy farms to completely fill their tankers. NMPF advocated that milk haulers be able to utilize the 150 air-mile agriculture exemption beginning at each pickup location
NMPF submitted comments urging the DOT to recognize these circumstances and provide clear and consistent interpretation and enforcement guidelines to all states with respect to the application of the agricultural commodities exemption to milk. NMPF will continue to work closely with industry and regulators on this issue.
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