Lawmaker reportedly plans to reintroduce bills to exempt small carriers from ELDs

A new report suggests that a Minnesota lawmaker has plans to reintroduce two bills that would exempt some truckers from ELD regulation requirements.

Rep. Collin Peterson will soon be reintroducing H.B. 5948 and H.B. 5939 in the House of Representatives, according to reporting from Transportation Nation.

Transportation Nation says that they have knowledge of Peterson’s plans to reintroduce the bills from an unnamed source who spoke with them only on the condition of anonymity.

Both bills were initially introduced by Peterson in May of 2018, but neither received enough support from other lawmakers to make it out of committee to the floor of the House for a vote. Neither piece of legislation was supported by at-the-time Speaker of the House Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to the report.

H.B. 5948 would exempt small carriers — those who own or operate 10 or fewer trucks — from having to comply with ELD requirements.

H.B. 5949 would exempt truck drivers who are hauling agricultural products from ELD requirements.

Both bills would still require that truck drivers use paper logs and that they comply with all Hours of Service regulations.

CDLLife has reached out to Peterson’s office for confirmation of these reports on his plans to reintroduce the bills, but he has not immediately responded to our request.

A petition in support of H.B. 5948 and H.B. 5949 has been created, asking the Trump administration for help in reintroducing the bills in the House. The petition, which currently has less than 200 signatures, would need to 100,000 signatures in 30 days in order to receive a review from the White House. You can click here to view or sign the petition.