E-log Mandate in the White House
The Final Rule to mandate e-logs has officially been sent to the White House as of July 30th. It is set for publication on September 30th, if all goes as planned. Along with it goes the Final Rule that will prevent coercion from carriers who don’t abide by federal safety standards. If approved, the mandate is set to take effect two years after its publication.
A recent poll done by Overdrive shows that 76% of people are opposed to the mandate while only 9% of people are for it. Drivers, carriers, and shippers who have been in the trucking business for years seem to be having a difficult time welcoming the mandate. Concerned drivers have left threats of retirement looming if the mandate passes. The poll findings show that there are more people in the trucking industry against this rather than for it. Truckers and carriers are urging each other to reach out to their senators to oppose the mandate.
The OMB has 90 days to approve the rules. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons to consider about e-logs:
E-log Pros:
- Log data is stored in a system that is easily accessible and can be viewed at any time.
- Easy search options to look back into past logs.
- Faster entering by truckers.
- Federal regulated rest times to avoid over worked drivers and potential crashes.
- Faster security checks.
- Ideal for carriers with large fleets to keep track of delivery progress.
E-log Cons:
- It is an expensive system to purchase and maintain.
- Not ideal for carriers with small fleets that have their own pace.
- Truckers will most likely make less money by having strict rest rules.
- Going over hours will result in penalization that will look poorly on the driver’s record and the carrier record.
- Encourages speeding to complete a delivery with the time given.
Concerns for Trucking Companies
Drivers who are new to trucking and go into the career with already issued e-logs seem to have no issue with the federal regulated mandate. The drivers state that they appreciate the rest times and the user friendly paperless system. The seasoned veterans of trucking are the ones that are worried about the change. They fear the mandate will lower their pay by minimizing the hours they can drive. Drivers can also find themselves speeding in order to get to their rest stops in time before their hours are up. Both drivers and carriers are not happy about the federal government getting involved with the way they do business and do not think the e-logs should be mandatory.
Carriers and shippers face the threat of not getting their deliveries out on time because of the strict hour policy that will be put into effect. Receivers might choose to change their services and the carriers and shippers will lose business.
Driver Coercion Relief
The last time this mandate came around, it failed to pass because of the possibility of driver coercion. Drivers now can rest easy knowing that shippers, carriers and brokers can be penalized if they threaten drivers to exceed hour limits or go against safety regulations. If the driver does get threatened, they can report their allegation and whoever posed the threat can face up to $11,000 per violation.
Next Steps for Carriers
The odds of this mandate getting denied is looking unlikely. The next step for carriers is to be prepared for what comes after it is set in place. There is no way in knowing how your truckers will respond, and having extra capital for your freight business cannot hurt. Factoring companies provide truckers with steady cash flow so you will never have to worry about the effects that e-logs might bring. With Factor Finders, your money will always be safely in your account and not tied up in lingering deliveries.
