Raymond P. Martinez was chosen by the Trump administration late last month to become the newest leader of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Martinez, former Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission since 2010, vocalized his support of the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate in the early days of his FMCSA leadership. “The goal is not to cripple commerce. The goal is to make roadways safer,” said Martinez, who acknowledges that the ELD mandate could cause big problems for independent truck owners.
The ELD mandate has technically been in effect for more than 21 months, as the FMCSA rolled out a three-phase compliance plan for those carriers and independent truckers subject to the rule. Phase 1 of this plan started February 16, 2016, and was to be used as a period for carriers and drivers to prepare for compliance. This phase ends December 18, 2017, and marks the beginning of Phase 2. Phase 2 is focused on phased-in compliance and runs through December 16, 2019. Under Phase 2, only Automatic On Board Recording Devices or ELDs that are self-certified and registered with the FMCSA will be accepted. There is some flexibility in Phase 2, however, as safety officials will not enforce the mandate’s out-of-service criteria until April 1, 2018. Phase 3, which mandates full compliance, will require all drivers to utilize self-certified ELDs that are registered with the FMCSA.
AMTR will continue to provide updates about legislation, implementation and any results, positive or negative, from ELDs.
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