OTTAWA – The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said that their campaign to provide carriers, drivers and owner-operators with an easy way to send pro-EOBR messages to federal MPs has gained traction.

“To date, several hundred carrier companies and individual drivers have sent about 1,500 messages directly to MPs from across Canada,” the CTA press release notes.

CTA said that Federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel stated to a carrier that EOBRs can “improve hours-of-service regulatory compliance by reducing the opportunity for commercial drivers to exceed regulated driving hours or falsify logbooks” and that Transport Canada “supports the development of an EOBR standard that leverages the work that the United States has undertaken on this issue, that is implemented consistently across all jurisdictions, including our provinces and territories, and that is operationally feasible for both industry and government regulators. Ultimately, a harmonized North American standard would be ideal in consideration of the importance of domestic and cross-border trade.

“A technically flexible, performance-based EOBR standard, combined with a suitable phase-in period,” Lebel was quoted as saying, “would hopefully allow sufficient time for suppliers to offer cost-effective options meeting the needs of carriers and drivers.”

“Our efforts show that there are many carriers and drivers who are clearly in favour of replacing outdated paper logbooks with more efficient and compliant electronic monitoring devices,” said David Bradley, president of the Alliance.

“While we understand that there is a minority in the industry who may oppose an EOBR mandate,” Bradley noted, “it’s important that decision makers hear from those who have experience with EOBRs in enhancing compliance and making highways safer.”