US: Mixed reaction to extension of E-Log waiver

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced an additional 90-day waiver from the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) for agriculture related transportation. The issue of the E-logs has been a common theme among many in the fresh produce industry across the United States. Many growers say the introduction of the safety devices - designed to enforce breaks and restrict driving hours for truck drivers - means that produce is more time-consuming and costly to transport around the country.

The United Fresh Produce Association welcomed the 90 day extension of the waiver on the mandatory installation of the E-logs. They said it provides an opportunity for further investigation into the impacts of the legislation.

“United Fresh commends Administrator Martinez for acknowledging the unique needs of the fresh produce industry and appreciates FMCSA’s engagement with us thus far," said Robert Guenther of United Fresh. "We look forward to continuing to work with FMCSA as this process moves forward and look forward to the upcoming release of their final guidance on this issue. This additional 90-day waiver and upcoming guidance will help to clarify some of the unique issue areas faced by fresh produce carriers hauling highly perishable and time sensitive commodities to American consumers.”

For many growers though, the waiver is ineffectual, because by far the majority of trucks already have E-logs installed and therefore the reported negative effects will not disappear with the announcement of the waiver. In reality, there are very few trucks that do not have the devices. 

"We don't know how much effect the waiver extension will have in reality," said Ron Gjelsness of NoKota Packers in North Dakota. "I mean, can they just disconnect the system in the truck? Basically all trucks have them so a further 90 days waiver will not make any difference. The question remains as to how it will be legislated and whether or not any concessions can be made for the fresh produce industry. There is so much doubt in the whole issue and at this point it's still too soon to realize the full effects."

For growers with operations in Mexico, the availability of trucks has improved lately. As a result, freight rates have eased slightly and it's unknown whether the E-log waiver would have made a difference either way. There is the possibility that trucking companies and their drivers may have adjusted to using the devices, providing hope for a possible good outcome.

"We haven't had as many issues in getting trucks lately," said Mario Cisneros of Santis Produce. "Overall movement has been much improved of late. We honestly don't know if these drivers have E-logs installed, but presumably they do. Hopefully this is an indication that they are getting used to the devices. This is however, a quiet time for produce so we don't know if it's because of better availability of drivers, or an adjustment to the devices."

For more information:

Mary Coppola

Tel: +1 (202) 303-3425

Ron Gjelsness

Tel: +1 (701) 847-2200

Mario Cisneros

Tel: +1 (956) 316-4457