NPPC asks for trucking rule waiver

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2017 - On Tuesday, the National Pork Producers Council delivered a petition to the Department of Transportation requesting livestock haulers be exempted from Electronic Logging Device (ELD) rules dictating allowable hours of service. The petition, delivered on behalf of NPPC and seven other organizations, asks for a waiver to keep livestock transporters from having to comply with the December ELD deadline. Under the ELD rule, truckers are limited to 11 hours of driving followed by 10 hours off. Livestock groups are concerned about the animal welfare implications of being limited to that schedule and having to find facilities to unload their livestock during that 10-hour down period. NPPC President Ken Maschhoff said in a statement that livestock truckers “have a moral obligation to care for the animals they’re hauling regardless of what some bureaucratic rule says.” The petition was delivered as NPPC has about 125 of its members in town for its fall fly-in. Livestock groups are also trying to address the issue through appropriations riders and other legislative vehicles.