Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/71813
logbook EOBRs among hot topics for agency The industry can be on the lookout for a Safety Fitness Determination proposal and perhaps a rulemaking in 2013, said Anne Ferro, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Also on the boards is a long-awaited entry-level driver training rule, Ferro told attendees at the CCJ Spring Symposium in May. Ferro also discussed where the electronic onboard recorder rulemaking process now stands in light of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's successful court challenge that FMCSA failed to address how fleets would be prevented from using the devices to harass drivers. "We've worked closely with EOBR partners – vendors, carriers and law enforcement – on the technical standards," she said. "We've also worked with drivers to learn more about the harassment issue." FMCSA also must address the issue of hours of service supporting documents for EOBRs, she said. All of those components will be dealt with in a forthcoming Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on EOBRs, due late this year or early 2013. "It will be a proposal, and we'll need your feedback," Ferro said. Ferro also reminded symposium OOIDA challenging Minn. out of service criteria The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is returning to court over out of service criteria against the Minnesota State Patrol and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. In April, the alliance adopted amended criteria for Minnesota and other jurisdictions that say out of service orders for fatigue can be issued based on reasonable articulable suspicion instead of the stricter standard of probable cause. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank will hear the association's motion for an Order to Show Cause Sept. 21, the first anniversary of the Minnesota judge's upholding of his previous order against the MSP. Last September, Frank ruled that the patrol's OOS criteria violates truckers' civil rights and his previous court order. That suit did not name CVSA as a party. Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske said the patrol was "aware of the motion and will respond in due course." CVSA declined to comment, said Executive Director Stephen Keppler. 18 OVERDRIVE JULY 2012 Last September, Frank ruled that during inspection, troopers are to observe drivers for impairment resulting from fatigue or illness. However, troopers cannot expand the driver portion of the inspection to determine impairment without reasonable articulable suspicion of driver impairment. Drivers will not be ordered OOS for fatigue without probable cause to believe the drivers' fatigue or illness has made them an imminent public safety risk, he wrote. The newest CVSA criteria states that when, based on reasonable suspicion, drivers are fatigued enough that they should not continue the trip, then they should be declared out of service until rested. OOIDA has asked the court that CVSA and MSP defend why they should not be held in contempt for what the association said is a violation of the court's ruling. The court will continue jurisdiction of the issue until September 2013. — Jill Dunn FMCSA is still wrestling with formulating a new rule for electronic onboard recorders. attendees of the July 2013 effective date of FMCSA's final hours-of-service rule, but chose not to address pending legal action targeting the rule and instead emphasized its definitive status in the agency's eyes. "The whole intent was to target cumulative fatigue," she said of the new 34-hour restart provision. — Dean Smallwood SHORT HAULS SPEED LIMITERS are unsafe, arbitrary and violate the principles of justice, according to a June ruling by an Ontario judge. The case involved owner-operator Gene Michaud of St. Catharines, Ontario, who challenged the province's law requiring speed limiters on trucks. CATERPILLAR HAS PARTNERED with Westport Innovations to co-develop natural gas technology for off- road equipment, including mining trucks. The companies will combine technologies, like Westport's High Pressure Direction injection and Caterpillar's off-road engine tech. PRELIMINARY DATA show Class 8 truck orders in May at 17,650 units for all major North American manufacturers, says FTR Associates. May orders are up 5 percent from April and down 24 percent from May 2011.