CINCINNATI — The National Private Truck Council’s board of directors voted to support a federal proposal to require use of electronic logging devices to monitor driver compliance with hours-of-service rules.
The council, which represents shipper-owned truck fleet operators, joins American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association and other groups in endorsing technology such as electronic onboard recorders to replace paper logbooks for recording the time commercial truckers spend behind the wheel and on duty.
Rick Schweitzer, NPTC’s general counsel, announced the decision in a presentation Monday here at the group’s annual education management conference.
He said NPTC’s support for electronic logs is predicated on three conditions: The resolution of technical and data ownership issues and the elimination of all requirement s for keeping supporting documents.
Most private carriers have already adopted some form of electronic onboard recording technology, like EOBRs, so the regulation “is not a huge cost imposition,” Schweitzer said.
It was also apparent, he said, that a mandate was likely to happen, and that adoption of electronic logs would be helpful to fleets in complying with safety regulations due to implementation of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
