Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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JOURNAL Carriers, drivers A t a recent meeting of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance in Bellevue, Wash., representatives of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration took two hours' worth of testimony from trucking industry representa- tives relative to the agency's published intention to issue a broad mandate for electronic onboard recorders to monitor drivers' hours. The session explored the primary issue of whether the devices could be used as tools for carriers and/or law enforce- ment to harass drivers and was the second conducted after a court of appeals in 2011 vacated FMCSA's April 2010 EOBR final rule that would have required the devices for certain hours-noncompliant carriers as a remedial mea- sure. Last month, FMCSA issued a final rule that formally rescinded the April 2010 final rule. The driving factor in the court's decision was FMCSA's failure to consider the harass- ment issue. The issue also was debated in February by FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. "Trying to regulate the difference between pro- ductivity measures and carrier actions that result in harass- ment is difficult because it sound off on EOBR mandate FMCSA formally rescinds final rule struck down by court should be judged by a standard of reasonableness that could be interpreted differently based on a specific factual circum- stance," according to a report issued by MCSAC. In Bellevue, carrier represen- tatives already utilizing EOBRs expressed support of the effort of a broader mandate, while owner-operators urged FMCSA to consider existing affordable alternatives to hours enforcement and address the root causes of hours noncom- pliance. Tim Dean, a company driver for Omaha, Neb.-based Werner Enterprises, said he has been operating under some form of automated hours monitoring for the entirety of his 23-year 3-mil- lion-mile-plus safe driving career. "I believe the percep- tion [among drivers] of EOBRs is negative, but over the years, they've become a bigger asset to me," Dean said, citing the dispatch/trip-planning effi- ciency the devices help enable as a tool to actually mitigate "harassment during off hours." Dean's comments were echoed by Schneider National representative Andrea Sequin, who testified that, following the carrier's first full year of EOBR implementation, drivers called the EOBR a "pressure- release valve" of sorts. Pressure Continued on page 16 LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS INDUSTRY GROUPS PRESS CONGRESS FOR ELD MANDATE I n a letter sent last month to members of the U.S. House and Senate nego- tiating the highway bill in conference, trucking industry groups urged the retention of the Senate's proposed mandate for electronic log- ging devices. The letter was signed by representatives of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Alliance for Driver Safety and Security, the American Trucking Associations, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Truckload Carriers Association and the Truck Safety Coalition. "The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended to the DOT that all trucks and buses be equipped with [electronic logs] as an effective strategy to improve the accuracy of carrier [hours-of-service] records," the letter stated. "In 2010-2011, the NTSB included this recommendation on the agency's 'Most Wanted List' of transportation safety improvements." The letter also calls on leg- islators to dismiss claims by opponents of an electronic logging mandate that the devices would impose a costly regulatory burden on the Continued on page 20 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JUNE 2012 13