Producers and livestock haulers are lobbying for more time to allow NCBA to work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on more flexible requirements.
 
WASHINGTON — Requirements that would require the use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) during the transport of livestock as well as insects, are at least a year away thanks to a bill approved by the US House of Representatives that will delay implementation of the action. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) applauded the House’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development for its inclusion of language to afford more time to consider electronic logging as an option in its appropriations bill, which was approved July 11, but the year-long delay is subject to full committee consideration in the coming weeks.

Producers and livestock haulers are lobbying for more time to allow NCBA to work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on more flexible requirements, specifically regulations that limit driving times of livestock haulers.

“We hope that our continued work with FMCSA will allow them to understand the needs of our industry: balancing the welfare of livestock, the safety of our highly skilled drivers, and the need to get our animals moved in the safest and most efficient way possible for the driver, others on the road, and the animals,” said NCBA President-elect Kevin Kester, who is also a fifth-generation California rancher

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“A one-year delay will give us time to address our industry-specific concerns, and give us more time to work with federal regulators to add needed flexibility, as hauling livestock has many challenges and variables,” Kester said.

“I want to thank Congressman David Valadao from my home state of California for all his hard work on this issue,” Kester added. “I don’t think this delay would have gotten into the bill without Congressman Valadao and his staff.”