FMCSA publishes EOBR rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Trucking companies found to have a 10% hours-of-service violation rate or worse during compliance reviews will be required to monitor HoS using electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) in the US.
The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration published its EOBR rule on Friday, which targets companies with serious hours-of-service violations.
It’s estimated nearly 5,700 interstate carriers will require EOBRs after just one year of the new rule’s implementation, the FMCSA predicted.
The rule will be implemented June 1, 2012 and the FMCSA warned it will likely come out with a broader EOBR mandate later this year.
“We are committed to cracking down on carriers and drivers who put people on our roads and highways at risk,” said Transport Secretary Ray LaHood. “This rule gives us another tool to enforce hours-of-service restrictions on drivers who attempt to get around the rules.”
“Safety is our highest priority,” added FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “In addition to requiring EOBRs for carriers that have already demonstrated a pattern of hours-of-service violations, we will initiate a rulemaking later this year that considers an EOBR mandate for a broader population of commercial motor carriers.”
The new rule also includes technical performance standards for EOBRs, which require them to record the date, time and location of a driver’s duty status. The rule also provided some flexibility for carriers who are voluntarily using EOBRs to track driver HoS. For instance, carriers using EOBRs will no longer have to retain toll receipts used to check the accuracy of driver logbooks.
The new rule can be found at www.gpoaccess.gov.
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Once again politics will take precedence over common sense. I am waiting for the day that the politicians mandate breathing and how often we take each breath because heaven forbid there be something they don’t decide for us simple people, after all there is nothing that is not much too complicted for us to figure out on our own!
Most drivers who already use EOBR’s are very much in favor (American spelling) of the technology. It gives them a legitimate, accurate, no-questions-asked record of their daily activities to present to enforcement authorities and company supervisors. They do not need to argue with dispatch as to how they’ve been “wasting” their time and whether or not they are indeed “out-of-hours” and need to park their rig in order to remain compliant.
The only question needing to be answered is, “Will the introduction of EOBR’s into a driver’s routine affect his/her bottom line, take-home-pay?!!”
It shouldn’t, and a pox upon the carrier who penalizes its drivers, in this manner, for its lack of due diligence.
Ed Murdoch
I HAVE ONE COMMENT
What about the drivers in other vehicles besides
commercial types. Examples are cars rv etc.
I have seen and I am sure you have too they
drive tired .best of all they drive way to fast
and not smart around thoses big trucks
I dont think there is fair play between cars
and big trucks on our highways.
I think a education campaign should be in place
to teach the unknown of big trucks.
This sounds like another money scam of the government
to me or is safety a issue.
Should crack down on every driver on the highways
what ever they are driving