American Horse Council representative Bryan Brendle shared news about the Electronic Logging Device mandate—along with the greater horse industry and AHC’s efforts in Washington—with attendees at the 2018 APHA Convention.
The agricultural community received a minor ELD enforcement reprieve until March 17; the AHC has also requested a one-year exemption on behalf of the horse industry that is still in the works—they are partnering with other livestock organizations to make that request.
Preliminarily, AHC met with the United States Department of Transportation in January 2018 to voice the horse industry’s concerns over the ELD mandate guidelines. On Feb. 21, DOT released two guidance documents that shed more light on the rule as it pertained to horses and agriculture. They also opened a comment section on their site and put out a call for questions and concerns, which will be used to develop a frequently asked question document. AHC expects 85% of the horse industry to be exempt from the ELD requirement once final clarifications are made.
“We’re determined at the AHC to continue working on this issue,” Bryan said.
Currently, federal guidelines that might require ELD compliance include:
- Vehicles used for commercial hauling
- Hauling activities fall outside the existing exemptions for livestock
- Driver is otherwise required to have commercial driver’s license based on combined weight of truck and trailer
Current exemptions to the ELD requirement include owners/drivers who:
- Operate solely within a 100-mile radius from horse’s location and work no longer than 12 hours daily
- Drive older-model vehicles (2000 model or earlier)
- Minimum numbers of operating days each month (8 days or less per month)
- Includes drivers who are currently not required to complete records of duty, for instance.
*Note: CLD requirements might still be required if you meet those requirements, pursuant to your state regulations.
AHC Non-Business-Related Transportation Guidelines for Horses
Bryan mentioned the importance of researching these regulations from official sources—USDOT or AHC, for instance—rather than relying on hearsay via social media. AHC is committed to developing additional resources for horse owners in light of these and other regulations.
Contact Resources:
Comments/Questions/Suggestions to the USDOT: [email protected] and transportation.gov
AHC: [email protected] and horsecouncil.org