NAAA has submitted
comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in support of the Small Business in
Transportation Coalition’s (SBTC) request for all motor carriers with fewer
than 50 employees, including, but not limited to, one-person private and
for-hire owner-operators of commercial motor vehicles, to be exempt from the
from the electronic logging device (ELD) requirements.
NAAA explained that for aerial application operations,
driving commercial vehicles is an extremely small percentage of an operation’s
overall workload. Operators specialize in the timely application of crop
protection products and the compliance of extensive regulations from the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
NAAA explained how aerial application operations typical
take place in rural areas with minimal traffic and are always conducted during
fair weather conditions. Additionally, the lack of reliable wireless broadband
in rural areas could make it difficult to properly use ELDs.
The ELD mandate has a long and contentious history in
Washington, culminating in the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
(OOIDA) petitioning the Supreme Court to stop implementation of the law. In
June of 2017, the Supreme Court declined to hear OOIDA’s lawsuit, allowing
implementation of the ELD mandate to move forward.
While the negative effects of the ELD mandate have only
recently been brought to NAAA’s attention, and the association will continue
working on ways to provide exemptions for aerial application operations both
through the federal rulemaking process and congressional action.
 in support of the Small Business in
Transportation Coalition’s (SBTC) request for all motor carriers with fewer
than 50 employees, including, but not limited to, one-person private and
for-hire owner-operators of commercial motor vehicles, to be exempt from the
from the electronic logging device (ELD) requirements.){kind=small}
