February 21, 2018

WG Requests Broad Interstate Commerce Ag Exemption for ELD

Western Growers filed comments with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today for broad interstate commerce agricultural exemption involving the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) and Hours of Service.

The comments include a request to make permanent the exemption to ELDs when the carrier is transporting agricultural commodities, and also requests a broader definition of the 150 mile air-radius that applies the source.

To add clarity to the FMCSA definition of “source,” Western Growers has requested “source” to include farm, packing facility, cold storage or other nearby off-farm origins when used to introduce fresh vegetables, fruit and tree nuts into commercial commerce. Western Growers also has requested that FMCSA apply the exemption to include unladen trucks that are returning west, once they have been assigned a specific pick up order and are within 150 miles of the pickup location. This is regardless whether or not it is the same pick up origin as the original agricultural outbound move. Finally, Western Growers would like to see FMCSA provide additional hours to compensate for any delays in loading product and at destination to allow for delays in unloading involving such activities such as USDA inspections.