Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/141405
Logbook E-log rule expected in November The U.S. Department of Transportation anticipates publishing a proposal to mandate electronic onboard recorders and requirements for hours of service supporting documents Nov. 18. The DOT Secretary's office received the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking June 7 from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The White House Office of Management and Budget must clear the SNPRM before the agency can publish it for comment in the Federal Register. The last EOBR rule, made final in 2010, was struck down in 2011 after a federal court said the agency hadn't done enough in the rule to ensure drivers would not be harassed or coerced by fleets. FMCSA plans to complete its study of driver harassment before issuing the rule. Also expected this year are the results of a study that seeks to determine whether recorders reduce the risk of fatigue-related crashes among trucks. That study also examines hours of service compliance, what portion of the industry uses the devices, associated costs and benefits of use. Congress has required that FMCSA issue a rule regarding electronic onboard recorders. When Congress passed the two-year highway reauthorization act last July, it stipulated that FMCSA issue an EOBR rule. The act also requires the rule to set performance standards, define "tamper resistant" in regard to EOBRs and include safeguards to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the data. – Jill Dunn Hours rule blasted at hearing Trucking industry stakeholders told members of Congress that the hours of service rule that was set to be implemented July 1 does not offer the flexibility needed for a diverse industry like trucking. They also said at the June 18 House subcommittee hearing that the rule does nothing to address conditions outside the control of drivers and fleets, such as detention time, weather and traffic congestion. The Highways and Transit Subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Thomas Petri (R-Wis.), said trucking companies have told him a "onesize-fits-all approach" does not provide the flexibility needed to adequately measure when drivers need rest and when they don't, but instead forces industrywide rigidity. Owner-operator Edward Stocklin said drivers face an "unstoppable 14-hour clock" that does not forgive drivers for delays related to bad weather, accidents or detention at a shipper. Flexibility "means give us the ability to drive when rested and rest when tired," Stocklin said. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Anne Ferro defended the rule, saying it does give flexibility. Ferro also said requests to delay implementation of the rule were denied because they did not include "adequate support" for postponement. Longtime highway safety advocate Joan Claybrook said the new rule "falls short of making the necessary improvements for safety that are needed to reduce the annual toll of truck-involved crash deaths and injuries as outlined by the court." Maverick USA owner Steve Williams, representing the American Trucking Associations, called the rule "arbitrary and capricious," saying that it is based on data preceding 2003 – the first year that drivers' hours of service limits were changed since 1938. Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance President Mark Savage said that without electronic onboard recorders, inspectors will have trouble enforcing the new hours regulations. – Jill Dunn and James Jaillet 14 | Overdrive | July 2013 Logbook_0713.indd 14 6/28/13 9:38 AM