HOS Revision Presents Plethora of Enforcement Problems, Safety Officials Say

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

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The U.S. government’s new hours-of-service rule for truck drivers presents a host of problems for those tasked with enforcing it, said Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

The February effective date for some provisions in the rule is particularly problematic, Keppler said.

“It’s a lot to digest and . . . a Herculean effort” to train truck inspectors in 60 days, Keppler said.

Under the rule, new fines for hours-of-service violations take effect Feb. 27.

So does a provision that affects which hours are considered off-duty when drivers rest in a truck versus being in their sleeper berths.

Other new provisions that affect restarts, rest periods and driving hours over seven days do not kick in until July 2013.

However, in all cases enforcement depends on roadside inspectors checking paper logs kept by drivers, Keppler said.

“Anytime you create [a more prescriptive rule], particularly hours of service, it presents potential for falsification . . . with the restart [and] the definitional change of on-duty time,” Keppler said.

There is no mandate, however, in the new FMCSA hours rule for electronic onboard recorders that would tell inspectors if HOS violations have occurred, although the agency has proposed such a mandate for almost all trucks.

While many carriers already have EOBRs on their trucks, others do not, Keppler noted.

A transportation reauthorization bill currently moving through the U.S. Senate would require EOBRs on all trucks.

Keppler said he is hopeful that Congress will make EOBRs mandatory in all trucks.