Few Drivers Harassed While Using Electronic Logging Devices, Survey Finds
About 2% of truck drivers who use electronic logging devices have experienced a carrier interaction that they considered to be harassment and that they associated with the HOS-logging capabilities of the ELD, according to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration driver survey released Nov. 13.
“Attitudes toward ELDs are broadly positive with respect to reducing the burden associated with paper logging; however, there are still some drivers who feel that ELDs limit their independence and give management too much insight into their days,” the survey concluded. “There is also some skepticism regarding how much ELDs contribute to improved highway safety.”
FMCSA said the focus of the survey of 628 drivers at 24 different truck stops was to enable the agency to determine whether the mandatory use of ELDs would result in driver harassment. The mix of drivers surveyed included those using ELDs and those using paper logs.
The survey was taken after an appeals court in August 2011 revoked FMCSA’s February 2011 proposed ELD rule. The court chided the agency for not including language in the rule that ensured drivers would not be harassed as a result of using ELDs.
FMCSA issued a supplemental proposed rule March 28, but has yet to finalize the rule.
Drivers who participated in the survey were given a list of 14 specific interactions between carriers and drivers that could be considered harassment.
“Few drivers experience regular interactions with their carriers that they consider to be harassment,” the survey said.
Fewer than 30% of surveyed drivers considered any one of the 14 interactions to be harassment, while 42% said that none of the items on the entire list would be considered harassment.
The survey concluded that actions most commonly considered harassment were interrupting a driver’s off-duty hours with a message at an inappropriate time, asking the driver to operate when the driver judged himself to be fatigued and asking the driver to log hours inaccurately to get more work time or to delay a break.
