ELD

For shippers, the lack of pricing regulation in the various modes they’re dependent upon is causing an increasingly worrisome financial squeeze.

The tightest truckload market in at least four years will be further exacerbated by the long-awaited mandate next month that trucks are outfitted with electronic logging devices which the government says will crack down on drivers working excess hours behind the wheel.

With the calendar getting closer to Monday, December 18, also known in trucking circles as the day that electronic logging devices (ELD) go live, it looks like things are all system go for the mandate, which has received a fair amount of attention in recent months.

A late push for a legislative delay for implementing the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate for motor carriers, which is set to take effect on December 18, was turned down by the United States House of Representatives this week. This stemmed from a proposal by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) that was part of a Fiscal Year 2018 funding bill and called for more time for motor carriers to be in compliance with the ELD mandate.

Echo Global Logistics Chairman and CEO Doug Waggoner spoke with LM's Jeff Berman about a wide array of industry topics, including capacity, rates, NAFTA, and technology, among others.

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) electronic logging device mandate deadline remains intact for December 18, it comes with a caveat based on an announcement issued by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance earlier this week.

With the Dec. 18 deadline for mandatory electronic logging devices (ELDs) quickly approaching, there is concern that a majority of the 3.5 million affected trucks have yet to procure or install the required devices.

In recent days, there have been movements, both pro and con, relating to the December implementation of Electronic Logging Devices (ELD).

Following a call by the House Appropriation’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing & Urban Development and Related Agencies issuing a report that directs the FMCSA to consider delaying the implementation of ELD (Electronic Logging Devices), the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said it opposes any effort that would delay the implementation of ELD, which is slated for December.

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Electronic Logging Device mandate remains on track to take effect this coming December, the House Appropriation’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing & Urban Development and Related Agencies issued a report that directs the FMCSA to consider delaying the implementation of ELD.

For April, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI was -3.6, which FTR called a modest deterioration and leaves it in a soft negative range of tightening capacity utilization that reflects the ability of shippers to fend off pricing increases from their contract carriers.

FTR said that it is likely that the current market environment for shippers will lead to what it said would be rate and supply trouble this year, due to a steady increase in capacity utilization, which it expects to occur through 2017 and come to a head in early 2018.

For December, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI was 2.9, which is down from November’s 4.38 and October’s 4.58. FTR said this decline correlates to soft conditions that impacted the sector over the second half of 2016.

In a decision published on October 31, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit said it would not overturn the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate, which is set to take effect December 2017.

The trucking industry is fighting back against a lawsuit by owner-operators attempting to delay a mandate that would eliminate paper log books by some 3.5 million long-haul truck drivers.