Horse owners confused by the new electronic logging device (ELD) regulations are getting a little more time to figure it out.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently announced it will push back implementation of ELD regulations by another 90 days for transportation of agriculture commodities, which includes horses.
That means implementation of the rules, which regulate hours of service and other aspects of commercial hauling, was pushed back to June 18. The extra time will allow federal officials to evaluate public feedback received about the issue and consider how a request to exempt agriculture commodities such as livestock from the new rules.
“The Agency has determined through its preliminary analysis of the public comments submitted to the public dockets that the issues raised by transporters of agricultural commodities are more complex than those raised by other segments of the industry seeking relief from the ELD requirements and that it is appropriate to take additional time to bring these matters to closure,” the FMCA said in the waiver.
Although experts say the new ELD rules, in general, do not require those who weren’t required to keep a paper logbook in the past to do so now, the spotlight the new Congressional regulations cast on livestock hauling – and on state and federal commercial driver’s license (CDL) laws — has caused many in the horse industry to evaluate whether they were in compliance with existing rules in the past.
In some cases, officials say horsemen did not realize how commercial driver’s license regulations impacted their business and had to look into whether or not they need additional licensing in order to be in compliance while hauling horses for themselves or others.
* Click here for the American Horse Council’s brochure about how CDL laws affect the horse industry.
* Click here to view the latest 90-day waiver for ELD.
* More information about the ELD rules is available here.
The additional 90-day delay announced by federal officials is not a final decision on the livestock-specific ELD exemption request filed in September—a determination on that request is still to be made.
The Washington, D.C.-based American Horse Council (AHC), which has been working with federal officials, will continue to push for this exemption along with other livestock industry associations.
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