The United States Cattlemen’s Association announced, in May, a revolutionary bill- the Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act, or TLAAS- that aides in the lifting of heavy restrictions on Hours Of Service rules and Electronic Logging Device regulations. This bill, introduced by multiple Senators in a bipartisan effort, benefits both livestock and insect haulers.
According to an email newsletter from the USCA, the act:
-Provides that HOS and ELD requirements are inapplicable until after a driver travels more than 300-air miles from their source. Drive time for HOS purposes does not start until after 300-air mile threshold.
-Exempts loading and unloading times from the HOS calculation of driving time.
-Extends the HOS on-duty time maximum hour requirement from 11 hours to a minimum of 15 hours and a maximum of 18 hours of on-duty time.
-Grants flexibility for drivers to rest at any point during their trip without counting against HOS time.
-Allows drivers to complete their trip – regardless of HOS requirements – if they come within 150-air miles of their delivery point.
-After the drivers completes their delivery and the truck is unloaded, the drivers will take a break for a period that is 5 hours less than the maximum on-duty time (10 hours of a 15 hour drive time).
Our Efforts
Protect The Harvest has worked over the last several years to bring awareness of the issues surrounding the ELD Mandate and Hours of Service. We have engaged many organizations and individuals by informing them of the issues and encouraging them to make their voices heard by their lawmakers. Our efforts continue as we reach out to more Western Caucus sponsors to co-sponsor the bill.
Current Exemption Ending Soon
Livestock haulers have an exemption from the ELD mandate until September 30th, but with the fall fast approaching, action is needed to permanently exempt livestock haulers from this government overreach. For more information on how the ELD negatively impacts livestock haulers, read this article.
Your Voice is Needed
The far-reaching HOS and ELD affects everyone, from increased inflation to the risk of animal safety, and your voices must continue to be heard to ensure the burden of this regulation is lifted off the trucking industry’s shoulders. We strongly encourage you to speak to your local lawmakers and explain why this bill must be passed in Congress.
