Cattle ranchers want an exemption to a livestock hauling rule change that they say will hinder their ability to transport animals long distances.

The new rule requires the use of hours-of-service electronic logging devices by drivers who are currently required only to prepare records of duty status.

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration’s Electronic Logging Device rule goes into effect Dec. 18, 2017.

The final rule does not change federal hours-of-service requirements, said Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration spokesman Duane DeBruyne. Drivers required to maintain federal records of duty status must convert from paper logs to electronic logging devices.

Current rules place an 11-hour driving limit after a driver has been off-duty 10 hours and require 30-minute rest breaks every eight hours. A driver may not drive after 60-70 hours of consecutive duty in seven or eight days.

The new electronic device rule removes “discretional wiggle room,” said Tim O’Byrne, beef cattle consultant in Henderson, Nev.

“The device will log in whenever the truck starts, and that kicks off the hours of service clock, even if the driver just drives 20 minutes out of town to the sale barn to get in line early and climbs in the sleeper for a five-hour nap until the sale is over and he has a load ready for him,” O’Byrne said.

“Our concern is that the (electronic device) does not recognize the discretionary actions of the livestock driver as he performs his regular duty,” he said.

Trucks would either need two drivers or a single driver would need to unload cattle during breaks, said Jess Peterson, spokesman for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.

“It’ll be a greater cost to get your cattle shipped,” Peterson said. “It makes distance an issue.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re hauling a load of potato chips and you run into the end of your hours of service and you just park in the rest stop or Wal-Mart parking lot,” O’Byrne said. “With livestock, it’s completely different. They didn’t give any thought whatsoever to live animals.”

The infrastructure doesn’t exist that allows truckers to stop and unload cattle after reaching driving limits. Even if it did, O’Byrne said, it would increase biosecurity risks.

“The whole idea is to get the cattle on the truck and get them expeditiously delivered to the final destination, all in one go,” he said. “If it takes 18 to 20 hours to do that, it’s far better for the cattle to have that happen.”

The American Cattle Transporters Advisory Group and American Trucking Association’s agricultural division will speak with the motor carrier administration to express concerns and seek possible solutions.

The oil industry has exemptions for off-the-clock waiting time that could be put to use for livestock, O’Byrne said.

The change in presidential administration could also provide an opportunity, Peterson said.

“(President-elect Donald Trump) has an opportunity to get this done right, and we look forward to working with him to do the right thing here,” Peterson said.

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