A rule that would require intrastate carriers in California to be equipped with ELDs is open for comment by the California Highway Patrol, with an expected in-service date for the rule in early 2024.
Unlike other regulatory actions in which the Golden State stands out from other parts of the country in implementing safety and environmental regulations, the state lags behind on this one, according to Sgt. CHP’s Dave Kelly.
In a lengthy explanation of the reason for the proposed rule published by the CHP, the agency is blunt about its main message: “Currently, state regulations do not require an ELD as a method of preparing a license. to drive within the state (record of duty status) and are subsequently incompatible with federal regulations.
Interstate does not necessarily mean that a state line is crossed. For example, drayage freight that stays in California but carries freight that entered through or is heading through a port is considered interstate.
This interstate sector uses ELDs as part of the federal mandate requiring the devices to be used to monitor compliance with hours of service regulations.
The impact statement issued by the CHP goes through a lengthy exercise to estimate the number of trucks that would be affected by the rule. He admits there are some things he doesn’t know, like how many intrastate vehicles are already using ELDs, because even though there’s no ELD mandate for them, they’re subject to the HOS regulations. But these vehicles can now record HOS data on paper logs.
The agency offers a hard figure: 53.9% of what it estimates to be the 366,800 drivers affected by the rule are not currently using ELDs, meaning 197,043 vehicles will need to intervene to meet the requirement. .
“We’ve been telling the industry for some time that this is happening,” Kelly told FreightWaves. He said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is “on us” because its state rules on intrastate drivers using ELDs are not aligned with the federal ELD rule, even though intrastate drivers must follow. the HOS rules that ELDs are supposed to monitor.
“We anticipate an effective date of January 1, 2024,” Kelly said.
The California rule maintains federal exemptions for ELD use for several types of driving, including trucks that are not in operation for more than eight days in a 30-day period, trucks in a “drive/tow” operation and trucks manufactured before 2000.
Kelly said he thinks California is one of the few states where the intrastate ELD requirement isn’t on the books. He added that a third party told him the number of non-compliant states could be as low as two, with California being one of the two. (Kelly said he was unsure which other state or states might be in the same position as California on intrastate ELDs.)
“It will happen”, Joe Rajkovacz. director of government affairs and communications at the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA), said of the rule. A large number of WSTA members primarily operate short-haul routes, which would have allowed them to avoid the ELD mandate in the past.
But Rajkovacz said his organization isn’t happy with one thing the state hasn’t done: bring the airline mile exclusion in line with federal rules.
The current federal rule exempts drivers from ELD warrants if all of their movements are within 150 air miles of their base of operations and their hours worked do not exceed 14 hours. The necessary data can be kept on paper logs which for most of the trucking industry disappeared with the start of the ELD mandate.
But the California exclusion is 100 miles and a 12 hour limitation.
What that means, Rajkovacz said, is that a California truck working within the state faces that tighter limit, while a truck that’s considered interstate, like a drayage truck , has wider limits of 150 miles / 14 hours even though it does all of its work in California, which many drayage vehicles do.
Rajkovacz said the WSTA hopes to see California align with the broader limits as well, given that its new requirements on intrastate ELDs are part of an effort to comply with federal law.
More articles from John Kingston
California Trucking’s AB5 Options Get IANA Audience; extra brokerage?
The Goods Movement Alliance enters the California supply chain defense scene
Transforce offers a ‘two-check solution’ to help freelancers comply with AB5