National Electrical Contractors Association Requests ELD Exemption
The National Electrical Contractors Association has applied for an exemption from the requirement for its members’ drivers to use electronic logging devices to record hours of service.
The 4,000-member contractors association said it could not estimate how many line workers drive commercial motor vehicles, but stated that the fleet of one of its large electrical contractors consists of 13,766 CMVs.
NECA said it believes that requiring its member drivers to record hours of service on commercial motor vehicles using ELDs would “unnecessarily burden” the operations of contractors who install, repair and maintain the infrastructure of electrical utilities.
NECA proposes to continue to use paper to record the HOS of these drivers.
“The actual operation of the CMVs by the line workers is so limited that the ELD requirement is triggered infrequently,” the Feb. 13 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announcement said. “By this application for exemption, NECA seeks greater “consistency” in the regulatory environment in which its line workers operate.”
The association said it is “cumbersome” to meet the costs and logistical challenges of recording HOS electronically and that the resulting safety benefit is negligible given the limited scope of the CMV operations of this industry.
FMCSA said it will accept public comment on NECA’s application for exemption 30 days after the request is published in the Federal Register, scheduled for Feb. 14.
