Washington Update - ELDs, Twin 33s Could Affect Your Freight Costs

We’ve been keeping our eyes on two developments that could foretell what shippers can expect to see in 2018. 

First, last week there was legislation introduced to delay the implementation date for Electronic Logging Devices (ELD). This has been an important issue for the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, or OOIDA. Having litigated this issue all the way to the Supreme Court with loss after loss, OOIDA is basically throwing a "Hail Mary pass" and hoping to get a legislative solution that delays the ELD mandate until 2019. Why has OOIDA been fighting this issue so hard? Some experts believe it is because a sizable percentage of its membership may not be ELD compliant this December.

Given the lack of support for this legislation, OOIDA may not be successful. Why should this concern you? If in fact there are thousands of OOIDA members who are non-compliant, they basically have two choices. Either spend the money and make sure they are ELD compliant or exit the industry. If we see an exodus of capacity, it will mean higher rates for shippers. 

The second thing we are watching is legislation to allow for twin 33 trailers (versus the current twin 28) for LTL shipments. Unfortunately, language supporting the approval of twin 33 foot trailers didn’t get included in THUD legislation. Why is this important? This legislation would result in billions of dollars in savings for carriers and shippers and would create additional capacity in the LTL sector.

Hear more about why these pieces of legislation are significant in this week’s video.

If you have questions about your transportation strategy, I encourage you to take a look at our Rapid Assessment process.

We’re on your team, we’re here to help, and we’re passionate about seeing you be successful. If you have any questions, please give us a call at 630-833-0890 or send us an email.