The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a nationwide educational tour for ELD implementation.

The ELD implementation national tour announced by the FMCSA is intended as an educational outreach program aimed at providing commercial fleet owners and drivers with guidelines on transitioning successfully to electronic logging devices, before the December 18th, 2017, deadline.  

The campaign will include several cities across the country, where the FMCSA subject matter experts will give driver-focused presentations and have panel discussions on ELD implementation. The tour staff will also be responsible for answering queries and facilitating drivers and carriers with resources and materials to help them understand ELDs better.

Tour Dates and Locations

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the ELD implementation tour will commence from July 13, 2017, and will conclude on November 8, 2017. Following is the schedule.

1. July 13-15 – Iowa 80 Truckstop Jamboree (Walcott, Iowa)
   
2. August 24-26 – Great American Trucking Show (Dallas, Texas)
   
3. September 25-27 – North American Commercial Vehicle Show (Atlanta, Georgia)
   
4. October 14-15 – California Trucking Show (Ontario, California)
   
5. October 21-24 – American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition (Orlando, Florida)
6. November 6-8 – Women in Trucking Accelerate! Conference & Expo (Kansas City, Missouri)
   

The upcoming ELD mandate is expected to increase safety and reduce driver fatigue as well as driver harassment. The FMCSA estimates that using ELDs will save 26 lives and prevent 562 injuries every year. Apart from this, the ELD mandate will also save the trucking industry nearly $1 billion through reduced paperwork and administrative tasks.

The ELD mandate applies to most CMV drivers. If you maintain a record of duty status (RODS), chances are that you would need ELDs after December 18, 2017.

There are, however, four exemptions:

• Drivers who do not maintain RODS are exempt from the ELD rule.
• Drivers who maintain RODS for less than 8 days in a 30-day period are exempt from the ELD rule.
• Pre-2000 vehicles wouldn’t need ELDs.
• Towaway drivers delivering a CMV that is part of the shipment wouldn’t require ELDs.

If you do not fall into any of these four categories, you will need ELDs by December 18, 2017. If you haven’t yet started the ELD implementation process, it is highly recommended to get started right away.

It requires a sufficient amount of time to find the perfect ELD vendor, compare different companies, learn about operating ELDs, train drivers, train fleet managers and administrators, get in the practice of keeping mandatory records, and iron out any malfunctions.

Waiting until the last moment may pose multiple problems. ELD prices are expected to rise, and there is also likely to be a shortage of ELDs.

If you need any assistance in the ELD implementation process, feel free to reach out to us.