Omnibus spending bill included an extension of ELD compliance for livestock haulers to Sept. 30, 2018. The previous extension date was June 18.
Waiver must be carried with livestock haulers at all times.
The ELD enforcement date and existing hours of service (HOS) regulations pose significant consequences for the livestock industry. Current federal law limits on-duty time to 14 hours, with a maximum drive time of 11 consecutive hours. The driver must then rest for 10 consecutive hours before returning to duty. For the great majority of the trips made by our livestock haulers, this is simply not enough drive time to accommodate the realities of hauling live animals across the country. Research also demonstrates that repeated loading and unloading of animals creates stress, harming the livestock as well as endangering the hauler. Unfortunately, the impending electronic logging device (ELD) enforcement date and existing hours of service (HOS) rules may force small business owners out of the marketplace while also having the unintended impact of decreasing driver safety, and jeopardizing the well-being of hauled animals if they can no longer be hauled by highly skilled and trained drivers/stockmen.
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