Guest Post by William Messerschmidt, Messerschmidt Safety Consultants
In April 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a proposed rule that would require trucking companies with repeated violations of Hours of Service (HOS) rules to install electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs). These EOBRs would replace paper “log books,” ensuring compliance with HOS Regulations by companies and drivers with a history of ignoring the HOS rules. Learn more about HOS Regulations. The final rule was issued in June 2010, and all motor carriers will have to comply with it by June 2012. See the final rule in the Federal Register.
Immediately after the FMCSA issued the final rule, the Owner Operators and Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) filed a lawsuit against FMCSA to stop the rule. Read about OOIDA’s objections.
In February 2011, the FMCSA proposed an even more comprehensive EOBR rule, which would cover not just the non-compliant carriers but cover virtually all interstate truckers and companies as well. On March 10, 2011, at the request of the American Trucking Association and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the FMCSA extended the comment period on this more comprehensive proposed rule.
The stated purpose of the more comprehensive proposed EOBR rule is to help ensure HOS compliance by “minimizing regulatory violations or excessive driving.” However, some groups are concerned that the rule will be used for the opposite purpose, such as forcing drivers back into “on duty” status when they are fatigued or ill but not over their legal hours per se. Other concerns involve drivers’ privacy and the accessibility of EOBR data in court proceedings, such as post-crash litigation or divorce proceedings.
Over the months to come, FMCSA regulators will be considering comments and attempting to resolve these labor, privacy, and highway safety issues.
Comments on the new proposed EOBR rule are open to the public, and can be made online at www.regulations.gov. Type in: FMCSA-2010-0167 in the keyword box, and click the link to “submit a comment.”
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William Messerschmidt is the Principal Technical Analyst at Messerschmidt Safety Consultants. He is a nationally-recognized expert in the field of automotive and heavy vehicle Event Data Recorders (EDRs). He has authored research in the areas of EDRs, human factors/driver response, and crash reconstruction. Mr. Messerschmidt writes about trucking and other engineering topics at MSC Blog.
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