Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., this week reintroduced bipartisan legislation strongly supported by the National Pork Producers Council to reform U.S. Department of Transportation Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Device regulations.

The Modernizing Agricultural Transportation Act would establish a working group at DOT to identify barriers to the transportation of agricultural commodities, including pigs, posed by these devices. Within one year, the group would deliver an action plan for reforms that support the continued safe, humane transportation of agricultural commodities. The proposed working group would be comprised of representatives from the transportation and agriculture industries, transportation safety representatives and the USDA.

Within 120 days of receiving the working group’s report, the transportation secretary must propose regulatory changes to the HOS and ELD regulations, based on the group’s findings and recommendations. As DOT works to reform the HOS rules, Congress has provided an exemption for livestock haulers from the ELD requirements.

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