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Notes and Recording from TRALA's Call with FMCSA Regarding ELD Mandate

TRALA held a conference call with the The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and opened it up to all its members on October 19.  The call was focused on the recent decision by the agency to grant only a portion of TRALA's petition asking for an exemption for short-term rental trucks from the ELD Mandate.
 

TRALA held a conference call with the The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and opened it up to all its members on October 19.  The call was focused on the recent decision by the agency to grant only a portion of TRALA's petition asking for an exemption for short-term rental trucks from the ELD Mandate.
 
The call lasted nearly 90 minutes and there are both notes and a recording available to all TRALA members who wish to review them or who were unable to participate.  Several questions were posed prior and during the call to FMCSA on a large range of issues involving not just their decision to grant all rental trucks 8 days from requiring an ELD but also the rule itself and how it will impact rental companies, carriers, and drivers.
 
The most critical takeaway from the call was the agency's insistence that interoperability was essentially off the table for discussion because FMCSA had decided when they published the rule that they would not address the issue due to the high cost of forcing all telematics companies to comply with such a request.  The problem with this approach is that the issue of interoperability remains the largest sticking point to TRALA members and their customers due to the fact that the only way to possibly comply with the mandate as written is to force significant administrative burdens upon the driver and motor carrier who would rent a truck.
 
 One other item that was clarified by FMCSA during the call was that you must have a copy of the official letter sent by the agency in the cab of the rental truck in order to utilize the 8-day exemption.  The easiest way to do that is to download the letter by clicking here
 
TRALA is discussing the issue in more depth tomorrow with its Government Relations Committee members to attempt to map out a strategy for moving forward.  The top political appointee at FMCSA has invited TRALA to come back in and meet with her and her team in the near future to discuss follow-up items that should be considered and to work through any other issues our association raises. 
 
You can read a copy of the notes from the call by clicking here.
 
You can listen to the call in its entirety by simply sending Graham Hall an e-mail asking for it to be forwarded to you and he should be able to comply right away.  Graham can be reached at ghall@trala.org
   
If you have any questions regarding the call with FMCSA or the issue of ELDs in general, please reach out to me at jjacoby@trala.org or 703-299-9120.  
 
Jake Jacoby
President & CEO
TRALA 

 
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