The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says the electronic logging device mandate is working, saying hours-of-service violations have decreased since full enforcement began in April.
The Agency has posted a new infographic on its website and plans to update it monthly, saying it’s a “snapshot of the positive impact electronic logging devices are having on improving hours-of-service compliance on our nation’s roads.”
Since the ELD mandate became fully enforceable April 1 after a soft enforcement period of nearly four months, less than 1% (4,720) of all driver inspections (559,940) have resulted in the driver being cited for operating without a required ELD or grandfathered AOBRD, the agency reported.
According to the infographic, only 0.64% of driver inspections in May had at least one hours-of-service violation. Just a year earlier, in May 2017, 1.31% of driver inspections resulted in at least one hours-of-service violation. That’s a reduction of more than 50%.
The rate had dropped to .83% in January and stayed in that range until the full enforcement began in April, when it then dropped to .69%.
Even so, trucking interests say the ELD mandate shows some of the operational difficulties with the current hours of service rules, and are optimistic Congress will pass legislation to relieve the burden. One recently proposed bill, the Honest Operators Undertake Road Safety, or HOURS, Act (H.R. 6178), could provide HOS flexibility for some truckers.