FMCSA Amends EOBR Rule, Eases Technical Requirements
This story appears in the Sept. 20 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week said it will not require the next generation of electronic onboard recorders to use a different type of computer connection than current models, or to operate in temperature extremes beyond the capability of existing systems.
Technology suppliers to the trucking industry have sought technical tweaks to the final EOBR rule since it was published in April, arguing that the original technical requirements would have added thousands of dollars to the cost of a new device.
In a Sept. 13 Federal Register notice, FMCSA said it will allow EOBRs to use USB type A connectors. This type of connection, common on many EOBRs already in service, is “much more appropriate for a computer-to-computer (or EOBR-to-computer) communications interface” than the type B connection mandated the April rule, the agency said.
No EOBR currently on the market has a type B connection.
FMCSA also retracted part of the April rule that dictated the range of temperatures in which EOBRs must be able to operate.
“It is not the agency’s intention to require an EOBR to be so rugged that it is operable at extreme temperatures that will not realistically be seen in a truck’s normal operating environment,” FMCSA said.
The agency initially called for an operating range of -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 185 degrees F, or -40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees C.
The amended rule applies to devices installed in trucks built after June 4, 2012. Electronic driver logging tools that comply with older FMCSA regulations — devices officially known as “automated onboard recorders” — may still be installed in trucks built before that date.
“We are very pleased that [FMCSA was] willing to listen to the industry,” said Rob Abbott, American Trucking Associations’ vice president of safety policy. “And [we are] particularly pleased that they did so in such a timely fashion.”
Qualcomm Inc., PeopleNet and Xata Corp. were among the tech vendors pushing for tweaks to the EOBR rule. Representatives of all three met with FMCSA officials during the summer to discuss the modifications.
“FMCSA has done a great job working with the industry,” said Tom Cuthbertson, Xata’s director of industry solutions.
“The FMCSA has responded with a thoughtful approach that takes into consideration technical and cost limitations,” said Brian McLaughlin, chief operating officer of PeopleNet, Minnetonka, Minn.
EOBR makers had warned that without changes to the rule, every device on the market would eventually have been rendered non-compliant, forcing fleets to replace them well before the end of their intended life cycles.
In petitioning FMCSA, vendors said that only extensive and costly retrofits and redesigns would bring the current generation of EOBRs into compliance with the rule as it was originally written.
