Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85442
VOICES Congress mandates EOBRs The highway reauthorization bill, signed last month by President Barack Obama, contains a provision that mandates virtu- ally all interstate carriers use electronic onboard recorders for hours of service tracking. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expects to restart its own rulemaking to mandate EOBRs early next year. (See Page 16 for more coverage of the man- date and the highway bill.) The American Trucking Associations and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance claimed industrywide unity in support of a mandate, but Overdrive readers have been anything but unified. Commenting on Overdrive's Facebook page about the video through which ATA and cohorts delivered their message to Congress, for instance, Robb Van Horn quipped, "I particularly like the guy who says (paraphrasing): 'That whole invasion of privacy thing? It's a non-issue for us, because we're awesome and truck drivers are lying, cheating, unsafe simpletons.'" Other objections to the devices have run along similar grounds, as well as worry over costs. Some operators, however, have found the devices a great help in reduc- ing paperwork and keeping their dispatchers honest about hours compliance. TRUCKER BUILDS AN EOBR as runs Taylor's company's tagline? We asked fans on Overdrive's Facebook page: Sable Truck Systems intro- duced its new tablet-based electronic logging hybrid software company at the Great West Truck Show in Las Vegas. Former owner-operator Bill Taylor, who designed the EOBR, says it requires no monthly fee. Cell service is optional, as the DOT-compliant app runs off of satellite connectivity. Taylor says it costs $550 with the PC Miler navigation app ($450 without). The tablet comes stocked with other native Android apps, too, like a music player and a web browser, and more can be downloaded. Would you use an EOBR if it was designed "by a trucker, for truckers," "Why? Does it come with a cheat mode? Would it be able to display two or more screens — like having multiple log books? No, really, if I don't want one, I don't care who made it." – Martin G. "Not sure. Depends on who has access to the information." — Sean D. "That's like a driver starting a lumper service. I don't want either one." – Randy B. Thoughts? Tell us on Overdrive's Facebook page: facebook.com/OverdriveTrucking. Scan the QR with your smartphone to visit directly. 1) EOBRs transfer a cer- tain level of control of a driver's log to dispatch. And since the log is the basis on which work is performed, it diminishes the Captain of the Ship notion all drivers must have. Problems with using recorders 2) EOBRs create a sense that only driving counts as work. And this will tend toward pressure to mini- mize an account of on duty not driving time, or line 4, by outright falsification. 3) EOBRs also create and compel a high-speed, high- pressure work ethic, where drivers operate under a sense of urgency to beat the clock. 4) EOBRs have been used and will be used by motor carriers to treat hours rules not merely as lim- its to work but rather as mandates to work! This is very important, because it assumes a one-size- fits-all rule that everyone should accommodate. But this is just patently wrong. 5) EOBRs diminish the human factor, or human- 4 | Overdrive | August 2012