The Trucking Alliance is calling on all state legislatures to follow the path of the federal government and require electronic logging devices in commercial trucks that operate as intrastate only.
“Since Congress required electronic logging devices in all interstate commercial trucks, to monitor the hours that truck drivers spend behind the wheel, violations are down dramatically,” said Lane Kidd, managing director of the Trucking Alliance. “Truck drivers no longer have paper log books to manipulate and falsify,” said Kidd, “and state legislatures should consider doing what Congress has done, and require all large trucks to install these devices to make sure drivers are obeying the law. Electronic logging devices should be as common in large trucks as seat belts are.”
The new policy statement reads, in part, as follows:
ELECTRONIC LOGGING DEVICES SHOULD BE REQUIRED IN ALL COMMERCIAL TRUCKS ENGAGED IN INTERSTATE AND INTRASTATE COMMERCE
The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, also known as the Trucking Alliance, encourages the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to expand its statutory authority and require ELDs in all interstate commercial trucks, as Congress directed, and regardless of the commodity or length of haul. Further, the Trucking Alliance urges state legislatures to require ELDs in all commercial trucks that operate exclusively within their state and are engaged in intrastate commerce.
The Alliance has long supported ELD use. They claim the ELD regulation is working and their policy statement is supported by facts, such as:
- Since the ELD Law took effect in December 2017, truck driver hours-of-service violations are down 46 percent.
- The ELD Law is reducing truck driver fatigue, a critical factor in large truck crashes.
- FMCSA estimates that 1,844 large truck crashes will be avoided and 26 lives will be saved each year with the ELD Law, reversing a disturbing trend in which 4,317 people were killed in large truck crashes in 2016, the highest number since 2007.
- FMCSA further estimates that ELDs will result in a net economic benefit of $1.1 billion annually, a figure that will increase if ELDs are required in all trucks engaged in intrastate commerce.
The Alliance also states ELDs will produce accurate data and provide a more accurate understanding of trucking operations.
The Trucking Alliance is a coalition of freight and logistics companies that support safety reforms. Members include J.B. Hunt, Knight Transportation, Swift Transportation, and U.S. Xpress.
