Head of Canada Truck Group Backs EOBRs for All Trucks Operating in North America

This story appears in the March 22 print edition of Transport Topics.

Electronic onboard recorders should be mandatory for all truckers operating in North America, the president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance said.

“It is rather bizarre that, in 2010, our industry relies on an archaic paper-based system when the rest of the world and the rest of society . . . is moving to a digital electronic world,” David Bradley said.

Mandatory EOBR regulations would “level the playing field to make sure that everybody is complying” with hours-of-service rules in whatever country they are operating in, Bradley told Transport Topics.

CTA, Canada’s largest trucking advocacy group, has 4,500 carriers as members.

On both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, “I think there’s a lot of inventive bookkeeping going on,” Bradley said. “There are people who have a variety of reasons why they might be opposed, but a good number of them simply don’t want to have that sort of oversight, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to bring an end to.”

If governments are serious about safety and enforcing HOS rules, he added, they “should be using all of the tools” at their disposal to promote compliance.

Bradley commented in connection with a position paper CTA issued March 15 that called for a universal, mandatory EOBR rule in Canada and, eventually, in all of North America.

Transportation officials in both Canada and the United States are currently conducting policy reviews on EOBRs.

In the United States, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering expanding a proposed rule written during the Bush administration to require EOBRs for companies that fail several HOS reviews.

Current FMCSA officials said the agency might issue a new proposal before the end of the year.

In Canada, the Council of Motor Transport Administrators is working on a proposed EOBR rule to be issued in October.

In a position paper filed with the council, CTA urged policymakers to address unresolved issues with EOBRs that include a “reasonable, common-sense” approach to enforcement.

For instance, if truckers were stopped for an HOS violation 10 minutes from home or a rest area, then the industry likely would oppose an EOBR rule, CTA said.

The CTA position paper also called for harmonization of the rules between the United States and Canada and for driver protections that ensure EOBRs are used only to monitor hours, not to remotely control shutdowns or lockouts.

CTA also said that any EOBR rule should not prescribe specific types of technology and that policymakers should not be drawn into a large-versus-small carrier argument over cost effects.

“Anytime someone is breaking the law in order to run their business, they’re getting, arguably, a leg up on somebody else,” Bradley said.

EOBRs would help to set trucking rates that accurately “reflect what it really costs to run a trucking business safely,” he added.

In the United States, American Trucking Associations does not support a universal, mandatory EOBR rule.

ATA supports an FMCSA “remedial” approach that would require fleets with poor HOS compliance to use EOBRs, said Dave Osiecki, ATA’s senior vice president of policy and regulatory affairs.

“We think that that’s a good idea,” Osiecki said.

According to ATA policy, there would have to be “sound evidence” that EOBRs enhance safety before a mandatory, universal EOBR rule would be justified.

As more trucks have EOBRs, Osiecki said, increased data indeed might show the devices increase safety. For now, though, the evidence shows only that EOBRs increase compliance to HOS rules, he said.