2016 Top Industry Issues Survey National Respondents
1. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate 2. Hours-of-Service (HOS)
3. Cumulative Economic Impacts of Trucking Regulations 4. Truck Parking 5. Economy
6. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) 7. Driver Shortage 8. Driver Retention
9. Transportation Infrastructure/ Congestion/ Funding 10. Driver Distraction
areas of safety, fuel economy and trip productivity. The number two issue ranked by
Arkansas carriers is the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate. On December 10, 2015 FMCSA issued its final rule on ELDs, mandating their use by December 2017 for all commercial drivers who are required to track hours-of-service. As the industry moves toward full deployment of ELDs, there continues to be concern surrounding privacy, the potential to inappropriately use the information tracked by ELDs, and the potential for industry-wide productivity loss, all of which combined to put the ELD rule number two on the Arkansas list and make it the top issue of concern on the overall national list. Stagnant economic growth in
the fourth quarter of 2015, as well as slow growth thus far in 2016 caused concern over the state of the nation’s economy to rank fourth among concerns facing motor carriers in Arkansas, and fifth on the overall national list. This has generated signif- icant concern among industry stake- holders, who for the past two years have ranked the economy much lower in the list of annual concerns, thanks to the strong post-Great Recession period between 2011 and 2014 (9th in 2014 and 8th in 2015).
42 Arkansas-Based Respondents 1. Driver Shortage
2. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate 3. Driver Retention 4. Economy
5. Hours-of-Service (HOS)
6. Cumulative Economic Impacts of Trucking Regulations 7. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) 8. Driver Distraction
9. Driver Health and Wellness 10. Transportation Infrastructure/ Congestion/ Funding Rounding out the top five list of
concerns in Arkansas is the rules govern- ing commercial driver Hours-of-Service (HOS). While slightly lower than its ranking on the national list (#2), the HOS rules continue as a top industry concern. Significant negative impacts on the industry have been documented by numerous sources due to the 34-hour restart provisions first implemented in July 2013. In an ATRI study released that year,
research documented that 80 percent of motor carriers indicated a loss of produc- tivity directly attributable to the now- suspended rules, and driver pay impacts were estimated to range from $1.6 bil- lion to $3.9 billion annually. Although the restart provisions were suspended by Congress in December 2014, concern over their reinstatement continues pend- ing FMCSA’s release of the results of its second congressionally mandated field study. Additional uncertainty surrounding
the final disposition of the HOS rules was unintentionally introduced in the December 2015 Omnibus appropria- tions bill with the omission of critical language that would have permanently suspended the more restrictive 34-hour restart provisions. The uncertainty sur- rounding an eventual resolution to the HOS rules issues keep this as a top five concern for the industry.
NEW ECONOMIC CONCERNS AND OLD INFRASTRUCTURE Number six on the Arkansas list
and ranking third overall nationally is a new issue to the annual Top Industry Issues Survey – Cumulative Economic Impacts of Trucking Regulations on the Industry. As an issue, it speaks to the industry’s growing concern for “over-regulation.” With FMCSA’s ELD rule and the EPA/NHTSA Phase 2 greenhouse gas emissions rule, vehicle costs will continue to increase. And, productivity impacts that generate from regulatory actions, such as the HOS, speed limiter and ELD rules, all have corresponding economic effects. These and countless other regulatory actions and proposals from the numerous agen- cies which regulate trucking all add up to this as a top industry concern. In a list identifying concerns in
the industry, one bright spot might be the fact that concern over the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program has lessened since last year’s survey as reflected by its drop in ranking, down to number six nationally and on the Arkansas list, down to number seven. Much of this drop in ranking can be attributed to the specific CSA concerns that were addressed in the FAST Act, passed in December 2015. Among the reforms included in
Issue 6 2016 | ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT
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