Full(ish) HOS enforcement kicks off in BC

LANGLEY, B.C. — The so-called ‘soft’ enforcement period of B.C.’s hours-of-service rules is over. As of today, B.C.’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) Division will begin fully enforcing the new federal standard B.C and most other provinces mirrored earlier this year.

The full rule takes effect despite calls from the B.C. Trucking Association to make amendments to “problematic” sections of the regulations before the educational enforcement period was set to expire.

Local short haul BC drivers are not exempt
from the HOS rule — not really, anyway.

BCTA insists some of the more burdensome provisions, such as the requirement for local drivers to keep records, needed to be fixed before the federal HOS regulations could be reasonably enforced.

Local drivers don’t have to carry logbooks, but must keep records showing duty status for each 24-hour period; split driving and on-duty time, and indicate odometer readings for when the truck was used for personal use, among other requirements.

The trucking group was urging CVSE to formally extend the educational enforcement period until the short-haul driver issue was cleared up.

Suzanne Watson of CVSE told TodaysTrucking.com this morning that, technically, that didn’t happen. Local drivers are still mandated to keep records as the regulation requires. “At this time, that’s what the regulation is,” she says. “Transport Canada is considering a change there, and when they do, we’ll certainly consider that.”

However, Watson is quick to add that CVSE has given direction to its staff to “focus enforcement on vehicles having a GVW in excess of 11,794 lbs,” which she explains isn’t “that big of a change from what the agency was doing all along.”

Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume, that while local drivers who don’t operate larger trucks must still make records, they may not feel the kind of enforcement pressure other over-the-road carriers would.


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