Cherryville, N.C.-based independent Tim Hepler is proud of his 1998 Volvo 770, powered by a newly rebuilt Caterpillar 3406E. Asked if he’d noticed any shift in the market for pre-2000 model-year trucks in the wake of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device mandate final rule, he slapped a price on his truck: “$150,000 now, and it will go up as December 2017 gets closer.”
That’s the compliance date for the ELD mandate, which exempts all owners of 1999 and older model-year trucks from compliance (based on the chassis Vehicle Identification Number, not the engine’s model year).
While Hepler was being facetious with his offer, such sentiment has been a staple of comment boards and conversations with truck owners this past year as the compliance date has drawn closer and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s efforts to overturn the mandate have been as yet unsuccessful.
There’s evidence of some movement in the last year toward older trucks by the smallest of fleets. According to Overdrive sister business RigDig Business Intelligence, its database of verified Class 8 trucks on the road today saw the share of pre-2000 trucks owned by one- to four-truck fleets grow by more than a percentage point in the past 12 months.
During most of that period, a wait-and-see mode relative to future ELD mandate compliance has prevailed among most owner-operators, given it wasn’t until Oct. 31 that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ELD mandate. At press time, OOIDA still planned to press the appeals court for a rehearing. “We will file requesting the re-hearing before the deadline,” Dec. 15, said spokesperson Norita Taylor just a week before that deadline.
