Last night, the House rejected one of the two measures brought forth by a Texas lawmaker meant to push back the deadline for the ELD Mandate.
U.S. Representative Brian Babin has presented two different legislative strategies to try and push back the December 18, 2017, compliance date for the ELD Mandate.
One ELD Delay Effort Defeated, Another In Limbo
The first strategy, which was defeated last night, was an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have pushed back the ELD Mandate compliance date to September 30, 2018 by restricting Department of Transportation funding for enforcement of the regulation.
This measure was defeated in the House late last night by a vote of 246-173. Legislators opposed to the amendment cited the dangers of truck driver fatigue and an uptick in truck crashes as their reasoning for opposing the proposed delay. You can click here to see how your representatives voted on the amendment.
The Babin Amendment to delay the ELD mandate just failed 173-246. ATA thanks those who put safety first. https://t.co/TlC4URz8km pic.twitter.com/mCtbi7fNf4
— American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) September 7, 2017
The second effort by Babin to push back against the ELD Mandate is a standalone bill known as H.R. 3282. It is also referred to as the the ELD Extension Act of 2017. This bill would push back the ELD Mandate compliance date to 2019, which Babin says would reduce the regulatory burden on small trucking companies and owner-operators, at least in the short term. He says that he is working to help those truckers who “don’t want the burden, expense and uncertainty of putting one of these devices into every truck they own by the end of the year.”
H.R. 3282 has seen growing support and now has 45 co-sponsors, but it has yet to move forward in the House.
The defeat of Babin’s first effort to delay ELDs could mean that the second may not succeed, signaling that lawmakers could be unwilling to take a stand against the impending regulation.
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