NWRA urges FMCSA to exempt waste industry from ELD mandate

The National Waste & Recycling Association, Arlington, Virginia, has filed comments with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requesting an industrywide exemption from the electronic logging device (ELD) rules in response to a request for public input contained in an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on hours of service (HOS) of drivers issued by FMCSA and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to FMCSA’s website, “The electronic logging device (ELD) rule—congressionally mandated as a part of MAP-21—is intended to help create a safer work environment for drivers and make it easier and faster to accurately track, manage and share records of duty status (RODS) data. An ELD synchronizes with a vehicle engine to automatically record driving time for easier, more accurate, hours of service (HOS) recording.”

In the comments by NWRA President & CEO Darrell Smith, the association acknowledges the safety benefits that ELDs present for other sectors while demonstrating that such devices are actually counterproductive for the waste and recycling industry by increasing the risks associated with distracted driving.

“NWRA calls upon FMCSA to recognize the unique nature of waste and recycling collection operations and create an industrywide exemption as it already has done for the ready-mix concrete and asphalt pavement industries,” Smith says.

The association cites those exemptions and requests the same for the waste and recycling industry based upon its similarities to these industries. Waste and recycling companies operate local route service trucks with drivers starting and ending their days at the same location, rarely traveling beyond a 40-mile radius. The frequency with which waste and recycling industry drivers must interact with ELDs due to the start and stop nature of collection creates a hazard unlike other industries face, the organization says.