An ardent supporter of mandatory use of electronic logging devices from the very outset, National Tank Truck Carriers Inc leadership expressed satisfaction that the mandate has now taken effect.
NTTC President Daniel Furth said: “The implementation of the ELD mandate is particularly gratifying for the tank truck industry as the NTTC and its carriers strongly endorsed this safety tool for several years under the leadership of former NTTC Chairman Steve Rush.
“The technology ultimately strengthens the partnership between carriers and shippers by prioritizing safety and compliance in the era of well-documented capacity constraints in the trucking industry. More importantly, ELDs offer professional tank truck drivers--particularly owner-operators--the ability to better manage day to day workloads, ensure accurate pay practices, and improve CSA scores. I think it’s critical to note that ELDs don’t change the existing hours of service rules, they just ensure compliance with those rules which should be the common goal of drivers, carriers, and shippers alike.”
December 18 marked the beginning of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate. Unless a driver/vehicle combination is otherwise exempted, all drivers and vehicles subject to the hours of service must be equipped with an ELD.
There is an implementation period where soft enforcement will occur until April 1, 2018. During that time, drivers properly tracking their hours on now obsolete paper logs will be cited, but the citations will not go towards CSA SMS points. Drivers that have exceeded their hours or are not tracking their hours will be declared out of service per usual. Points and fines will also be assessed on these citations.