Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has signed off on the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Electronic Logging Devices and Hours of Service Support Documents and sent the SNPRM to the Office of Management and Budget.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said when published…the proposed rulemaking would establish (1) minimum performance standards for electronic logging devices (ELDs), (2) requirements for the mandatory use of the devices by drivers required to prepare handwritten records-of-duty status (RODS), (3) requirements concerning HOS supporting documents, and (4) measures to ensure that the mandatory use of ELDs will not result in harassment of drivers by motor carriers and enforcement officials.
Details of the four points will be made public when the rulemaking is published.
The rulemaking supplements FMCSA’s Feb. 1, 2011, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and addresses issues raised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Court in its 2011 decision vacating the agency´s April 5, 2010, final rule concerning ELDs.
FMCSA said the requirements for electronic logging devices would improve compliance with Hours of Service rules and thereby decrease the risk of fatigue-related crashes attributable to non-compliance with the regulations.
The agency hopes to publish the SNPRM in January 2014 and then accept public comments on the proposal.
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.
~ The Trucker, August 8