Bill to exempt small carriers from ELD mandate filed in U.S. House

A bill to allow very small carriers — those with 10 or fewer trucks — to forgo use of electronic logging devices and return to using paper logs has been filed in the U.S. House.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) introduced the legislation, H.R. 1697, this month into the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The bill, dubbed the Small Carrier Electronic Logging Device Exemption Act, would exempt all carriers with 10 trucks or fewer from the ELD mandate, meaning they could revert back to using paper logs to record duty status.

It’s unclear whether the legislation will gain much support in Congress or at the White House. The legislation was originally introduced last May but failed to make it out of committee. Other than Peterson, a Democrat, the bill gained 33 co-sponsors last Congress — all of them Republicans. The current version of the bill has one co-sponsor, Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Montana).

The pair also introduced a bill Tuesday to exempt drivers who haul agricultural commodities — including livestock — from the ELD mandate. The Agricultural Business Electronic Logging Device Exemption Act,  H.R. 1698, was also filed to the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.