By Greg Johnson, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Jan. 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Now that a ban on handheld phone use by truckers has taken effect, attention has shifted to a possible final rule on electronic onboard recorders.
“Savvy carriers aren’t waiting for an EOBR rule to be mandated,” said Monica Truelsch, director of marketing for TMW Systems Inc., a Beachwood, Ohio, transportation management products manufacturer. “They see it as inevitable, and so they’ve been working to build business strategies to invest in mobile communications and tracking technologies now in order to add value to their business, and not just comply with regulations.”
Several large carriers — including J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Schneider National Inc., U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Knight Transportation and Maverick USA — already have placed EOBRs in their vehicles and are proponents of legislation requiring their use (2-7, p. 1).
While the above-mentioned carriers are all on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada — they rank Nos. 5, 6, 15, 31 and 96, respectively — even smaller fleets are adopting the devices.
“We’re on board now and ready for the EOBR rule,” said Mike Stromberg, manager of operations at Skinner Transfer Corp. in Reedsburg, Wis., “but I think the government should do some sort of grant program for small carriers to get [EOBRs] into their trucks.”
And Arkansas Best Corp., No. 14 on the for-hire TT 100, stands with American Trucking Associations in its endorsement of the use of EOBRs in the nation’s over-the-road fleets, spokesman Russ Aikman said.
ATA has told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that while it supports the agency’s proposal to require EOBRs to record drivers’ hours of service, the group also is urging the agency to address important device design and performance requirements.
In September 2011, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a 2010 electronic onboard recorder rule that was mandated by FMCSA. The agency had crafted the rule for about 5,700 carriers with significant hours-of-service violations.
But the court said FMCSA had failed to ensure that the devices wouldn’t be used to harass truck drivers, a major complaint made by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
The agency is now working to meet a deadline this coming June for a revamped rule that is slated to affect all motor carriers.
Because FMCSA is discussing this matter with truckers and EOBR device makers, few carriers and no EOBR suppliers agreed to comment for this report.
