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October 21, 2015

Allen Lund Company Newsletter

Emergent Issues in Distribution and Transportation

In This Issue
Loggerheads: The Electronic Log Squabble

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Jenn Cole, Editor  
Allen Lund Company
Grand Rapids Office
(800) 641-5863 
Loggerheads: The Electronic Log Squabble

When Ronald Reagan said, "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help," those of us who have been in the transportation industry for a long time remember the feeling that he was speaking directly to us. While they are virtually always well intentioned, new government regulations often have far-reaching unforeseen consequences that can work for some, but ultimately harms others. It is no wonder that the probable implementation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's mandated use of electronic logging devices is making some in the industry uneasy. Whether or not this feeling of unease is in fact warranted is a matter of contentious debate.  

Later this year, all interstate commercial truck drivers will be required to switch over from a paper logbook to an electronic device which logs hours on and off duty. From the government's perspective, the rule is a no-brainer. As it stands, hours-of-service recordkeeping for interstate truck and bus drivers is the second biggest paperwork burden from federal regulations in the country (behind tax related filings). Electronic logging would significantly reduce much of this burden, which would be a clear benefit to the industry. Beyond the administrative benefit, it has been proposed that the law would save lives, limbs, and money. "Analysis shows it will also help reduce crashes by fatigued drivers and prevent approximately 20 fatalities and 434 injuries each year for an annual safety benefit of $394.8 million." The mandate has gained wide support, including that of the American Trucking Association, but not everyone shares this sentiment.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has expressed the concern that the rule could be used to harass drivers. "Motor carriers have used ELDs to harass drivers in a number of ways, including the demand that they manually input their on-duty not-driving time as off-duty, by utilizing the device to wake drivers when they are resting in the sleeper berth, or suddenly requiring a driver's attention to the ELD device while he or she is driving. "Furthermore, electronic logging devices are not tamper-proof, unleashing an additional cascade of concerns. The most recent version of this rule includes a stipulation that the harassment of a driver by a motor carrier is strictly prohibited, and is punishable by large fines. There is also a question about what effect, if any, the new rule would have on overall capacity and utilization of drivers.

It is unclear how this new rule will affect smaller carriers, but one can assume that they will be hit harder than larger firms. There are also several concerns about enforcement that have yet to be addressed directly. It is also difficult to estimate what percentage of the more than 500,000 federally registered freight and passenger carriers in the U.S. habitually violate hours-of-service rules, and therefore until it is implemented and enforcement issues are ironed out, it is impossible to project the true effect of this new law on the industry. It can, however, be confidently stated that it will be a very big deal.




Mike Neivert
Transportation Broker, Boston

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Mike Neivert is a transportation broker in the Boston office, and has been with the Allen Lund Company since February 2014. He is a graduate of Wheaton College where he studied International Relations and Economics.
 
 
 
About Allen Lund Company: Specializing as a national third-party transportation broker with nationwide offices and 400 employees, the Allen Lund Company works with shippers and carriers across the nation to transport dry, refrigerated (specializing in produce), and flatbed freight; additionally, the Allen Lund Company has an international division, which is licensed by the FMC as an OTI-NVOCC #019872NF, and a logistics and software division, ALC Logistics.  

 

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