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A New Day

Consequences—intended or otherwise—of the ELD mandate
MS_A New Day

Adoption seems to have been two-sided: larger companies jumping in and smaller operators waiting and weighing their options. In the months since the rollout in December, many companies self-reported high levels of compliance, but others continued to wait, hoping for a last-minute reprieve. Partly because of protests from industry advocates, agriculture haulers did receive two extensions.

Sonny Perdue, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, applauded the measure, noting the extensions were “critical to give the Department of Transportation additional time to issue guidance on hours of service and other ELD exemptions that are troubling for agriculture haulers. This is a classic example of one-size-fits-all federal regulation that ignores common sense to the detriment of sectors like agriculture.”

Before the second exemption expired, regulators came through with two clarifications in June: ag haulers are exempt from hours of service within 150 air-miles of a perishables pickup or delivery point; and any driver who runs out of hours can invoke personal conveyance to drive to the closest safe parking area without penalty.

Size matters
And while most would call this a win, it was not what many were hoping for—an all-out ban on ELDs. According to a survey by CarrierLists, larger carriers (those with fleets of 71 trucks or more) reported universal adoption in their vehicles with little complaint from drivers.

Smaller fleets of up to 25 trucks, representing the vast majority of those surveyed, reported an adoption rate of around 40 percent in the early months. This reflects the basic divide in ELD opinion: larger carriers favor the devices as a way to ensure compliance and keep drivers in line, while smaller carriers view ELDs as intrusive, limiting their ability to compete, and slowing down shipping and delivery.

Because of the inherent challenges of hauling perishables, time constraints have always been a major factor in shipping. A maximum of 14 hours of service per day (with 11 hours of driving) may seem like ample time—but loading delays, traffic jams, and inclement weather can eat up time and jeopardize business in a way that doesn’t apply to dry goods, electronics, construction materials, and other forms of cargo.

Even with the exemption, many were already experiencing higher shipping costs with a corresponding surge in wholesale and retail pricing. More flexible and permissive rules for fresh produce hauls would seem to go a long way in compliance without disrupting the supply chain and increasing the price consumers pay for fresh produce.

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