WASHINGTON, D.C. — An electronic on-board recorder (EOBR) mandate within the US highway bill passed earlier this week could already be dead in the water after an amendment was passed today that would prevent the Department of Transportation from advancing the regulation.

The US House of Representatives today passed an amendment brought forward by Representatives Jeff Landry, R-LA and Nick Rahall, D-WV, which would essentially prevent the DoT from funding the EOBR requirement. This could prevent the rule from being implemented.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) was quick to thank the representatives who supported the amendment.

“We’d like to thank the co-sponsors for their bipartisan opposition to the mandate,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice-president. “We also thank those who worked against the EOBR mandate in the highway bill, including Leonard Boswell, D-IA and James Lankford, R-OK. We commend them all for recognizing the negative consequences of mandating EOBRs and for their hard work in stepping up to correct the situation.”

The American Trucking Associations, which supports the mandate, expressed frustration at the latest roadblock but remained optimistic the requirement would yet be implemented.

“Just one day after the House and Senate came together on a common sense compromise transportation bill that moves the cause of highway safety forward, adoption of this amendment is a step back,” said ATA president and CEO Bill Graves. “Though opponents of honest, fair and efficient enforcement of important safety rules have used this back door to thwart the will of Congress, we fully expect that the language of the conference report – agreed to by House and Senate leaders of both parties – will be the final word on the use of electronic logs and that DoT will quickly move to require this important safety technology on all trucks.”