Drivers need to actively participate in the rulemaking process

by Al Goodhall

We’re now into our sixth year since the amended Canadian hours-of-service regulations came into effect on Jan. 1, 2007. Remember those heady days? I remember being impressed by the sleep research that had been done leading up to those changes.

I felt at the time they were much needed changes and they made a lot of sense. A driver would be able to operate based on their circadian rhythm and reduce fatigue by getting a better quality of sleep/rest. It was a good plan on paper.

But even though the intent was to benefit the driver, I can remember twisting myself in every direction that first year to accommodate the movement of freight.

It fell to drivers (and safety departments) to adapt the new rules to the existing business model. I can remember the general sentiment being, “Well, you can’t expect shippers and receivers to change how they do business overnight. They’re our customers after all.”

As a consequence of how these rules were implemented, we drivers continue to love to hate them. The one-size-fits-all application doesn’t work for all drivers. The rules often hinder the efficient use of a driver’s time, which ends up adding to their level of fatigue. Is it fair to say we were victimized by a piece of legislation that was originally proposed to make life better and safer for the commercial driver and for the public we share the roads with?

I think it probably is. In fact, more and more drivers are endorsing the use of electronic on-board recorders to enforce these rules in order to bring the rest of the industry in line. Now this is only my opinion, based on my experience and feedback from other drivers – but I think it paints a fairly accurate picture.

So what happened? Why did we not benefit from all the years of research focused on the driver? Why do we continue to struggle with this legislation today? I think it is because of the lack of driver feedback at the planning stage.

For the last three years or so, I have been participating in a couple of transportation health and safety groups. I’ve been attending monthly meetings as much as I possibly can and offering a driver’s perspective on the topics being discussed. One thing quickly became obvious to me: I am often the only driver in the room.

So, when it comes to raising driver concerns about pending legislation or rule changes that affect them, drivers are often represented by proxy only, in the form of a company’s safety and compliance department.

Despite the best effort and intentions of all the other parties involved in putting forward and implementing rules that affect drivers, those rules usually come up short in the eyes of the commercial driver.

There are over 300,000 active commercial drivers in Canada. That’s a big number. With so much at stake, am I the only one who finds it unusual that drivers are grossly underrepresented when it comes to how they are governed?

How would the hours-of-service rules look today if drivers were represented in the planning stage in the same proportion they are represented in the industry? I think things would be different in a very positive way. But we’ll never know. What a shame.

By being involved in the planning and implementation process, people usually take ownership of the final product, which helps to ensure a positive outcome. By standing apart from the process, people tend to feel the final product has been foisted upon them. So it’s not surprising that rules originally intended to empower drivers have left them feeling victimized.

So what is going to happen as the collection of data is expanded to in-cab monitoring? Is this the direction telematics is headed in? Is this how high-risk drivers will be identified as technology rolls out?

How will it affect the morale of the existing driver pool and does it matter to the next generation of drivers, or will monitoring technology simply not be a big deal to a new generation of drivers brought up living openly online?

I think it’s very important to the industry as a whole that we find a way to include a high level of driver feedback about data collection. If drivers don’t buy into this expanding technology that monitors their behaviour, it could present another roadblock in the recruiting and retention of professional drivers.

I don’t have a ready-made solution to resolving this communication problem, but it is becoming more important than ever that drivers be involved in the planning process. If drivers truly want to feel like partners in the process rather than victims of circumstance, they need to step up and take a seat at the table.


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  • I just scanned over this article and it gets me going every time I see or hear that drivers are endorsing EOBR’s and its more alone the line that the companies and the media is making most of these drives believe that it is the way of the future and we as drivers can’t stand in the way of technology. I ask every time two things ” way if it’s so important to track every moment of the driver “” to bad drivers need to be treated like small kids” “why we are tracking a piece of iron and not the driver? The next is if a driver is a professional then treat him as so just like any other professional and track him with a unit that is tied to the driver not the truck who cares if the truck rolls 24 hours a day lets track the driver by a single personalized unit that is registered to an active driver, and lets stop making every one thing that we must track the trucks it’s not the truck causing the accident its a operator of that unit thanks

  • When is this game going to end? Everybody loves to drive my truck,but from afar.Nobody wants to leave their family for two weeks at a time,but every body wants to control my slightest movement while I do.Rule makers never seem to enact rules that govern their own behaviors,but are so certain they know what is best for me.I am a “Professional Driver”.I take my job very seriously.I am not some mouth breathing,knuckle dragger,hell bent on destruction behind the wheel of an 80,000 lb juggernaut.I neither want or need to be monitored 24/7.Isn’t that what they do to guys they just let out of prison.How flattering!

  • Years ago there was an owner-operator’s organization called COMCAR that in 1987/88 did get involved in the first implementation of the HoS, since 1965. Joint seminars with Ministry officials were held in several major cities across the country. That initiative as we all know did not persist and petered out largely, in my opinion, because it originated from the grass roots and not from the towers of officialdom. Truckers continue to be treated at all levels of society as 2nd and even 3rd class citizens. Personally I have held a commercial driver’s licence for 62 years and it has been my observation that we drivers are partly responsible for this discretionary overview, perpetrated by irresponsible behaviour both in and out of our vehicles. The onus is on the individual to be ‘seen’ as a professional at all times, on and off duty, as well as acting as a professional. And think about this: only by logging ALL duty related hours of service, not just those that produce revenue, will the true picture of the time and effort the true professional transport operator invests in the business whether a company driver or an owner-operator. If one expects to receive fair compensation for work accomplished, then what possible positive result will come if one hides all that non-revenue, but necessary and important, effort required to operate safely and efficiently. Truckers are supposed to be tough. Is it not time to stand up and demand to be recognized for your contribution to society?