Since we’re about a year and a half into a presidential administration with a radically different agenda from the previous one, it’s a good time to check in on some significant changes, for better or worse, that have been made on the regulation (and deregulation) front.

Electronic Logging Device Compliance 

Among the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) latest crusades has been to remove certain platforms from its list of electronic logging devices (ELDs), technologies that link up with the truck’s engine to log driver data such as hours of operation, miles driven, vehicle location and more. They’re designed to make sure drivers and vehicles are complying with established regulations and guidance related to driver productivity and fatigue.

Since January, the agency has removed 67 devices that it has deemed noncompliant with federal standards. Most recently, in May, it removed Safe ELD (iOS and Android) and MYLOGS ELD from its list. Among others that have been removed this year are HERO ELD, Club ELD and EGREEN ELD. FMCSA administrator Derek D. Barrs has said the ongoing removal of certain systems has been motivated by the desire to “protect the integrity of the ELD program and to keep America’s roads safe.”

Non-Domiciled CDLs

Another of the Trump Administration’s DOT focuses has been its crackdown on what it’s calling illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).

Last year Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a nationwide audit of states issuing non-domiciled CDLs — issued to those whose permanent residence is out of state or out of the country. The focus is largely on non-U.S. drivers, owing to the administration’s anti-immigration posturing.

Among its recent targets has been North Carolina. Duffy claimed that 54% of the state’s non-domiciled CDLs had been issued illegally. DOT has been withholding federal funding from states that it deems in violation. 

ID Verification

In April, FMCSA announced upgrades to its Drug and Alcohol Clearing House online database, which enables employers, law enforcement officials and state agencies to quickly identify commercial vehicle drivers who are prohibited from driving due to drug and alcohol violations.

New identity verification requirements are designed, the agency says, to strengthen fraud prevention, improve record accuracy, and enhance accountability for more than 6 million users in the database.

The new process is being carried out with IDEMIA, a company that specializes in secure identity verification — the one used by the Department of Homeland Security at airports across the country.  

Emissions Standards Deregulation

On the clean air front, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May continued its deregulation campaign when Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed to delay the compliance deadlines for emissions standards set under the Biden Administration. The EPA is seeking to delay those deadlines for light- and medium-duty vehicles for two years until model year 2029.

The announcement came three months after Zeldin announced the agency’s abandonment of the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, as well as all subsequent greenhouse gas emissions standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 through 2027. The 2009 finding determined that six specific greenhouse gases present in vehicle emissions threat public health and welfare. CO2 and methane were the biggest among those.