The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to survey trucking to determine how it could prevent driver harassment when it issues a rule mandating electronic onboard recorders.
“These surveys will explore the relevant issues from the point of view of both drivers and carriers [toward] the use of EOBRs,” the agency said in a Federal Register notice published Thursday.
“The survey results will inform FMCSA in its ongoing rulemaking on EOBRs, including potential countermeasures or best practices that will ensure that EOBRs are not used to harass or coerce [commercial motor vehicle] drivers,” the notice said.
The White House Office of Management and Budget must approve the proposed survey before it can be conducted.
FMCSA must issue a final EOBR mandate by October 2013 under the transportation law passed earlier this year. Last year a federal court told the agency that a previous EOBR rule did not go far enough to protect drivers against potential harassment from supervisors using EOBRs.
In its most recent rulemaking report, issued in October, FMCSA said it would release a new proposal for the mandate by March 20.
Click here to view the Federal Register notice in text format.
Click here to view as a PDF. (U.S. government website)
