PeopleNet Says It Can Meet EOBR Standards Without Making Changes to Its Hardware

BOCA RATON, Fla. — PeopleNet Communications Corp. told customers here its current mobile computers will likely be able to meet the government’s electronic onboard recorder requirements without hardware changes.

Unless the proposal changes drastically, customers will receive software updates that make their PeopleNet devices compliant with regulations currently set to become effective in June 2012, Brian McLaughlin, chief operating officer of PeopleNet, said at the company’s annual user conference here.

“All indications that we’re getting is that we’ll be able to move that system, through software updates, to the next generation,” McLaughlin said in his presentation opening the conference on Aug. 16.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a proposal in April 2010 that amounts to a “total rewrite” of the standards for electronic devices that log truck driver hours, Debbie Freund, a senior transportation specialist with the agency, told customers during a session at the conference.

Some fleets use the devices instead of paper logs, but the April 2010 regulations also mandate the devices for some fleets that have violated driver hours-of-service rules.

But FMCSA is still considering some changes to the specifications of EOBRs, especially the systems by which law enforcement officials will be able to access a driver’s records on the side of the road, Freund said.

“We still have to make sure that we have consistent, convenient and secure ways for the EOBRs to communicate with law enforcement officials’ laptop computers, portable devices and other technology that they use,” Freund said.

The communications issues caused FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Council to consider recommending pushing back the June 2012 implementation date. That committee will likely issue a recommendation on the topic at the end of the month (8-8, p. 3).

Taking what it does know about the specifications, PeopleNet has implemented some of the changes to its hours-logging product, while it is awaiting FMCSA guidance on others, McLaughlin said.

PeopleNet sells three different in-cab products, all of which run the same logging software.

“We get a lot of questions about whether we’re 16 compliant,” McLaughlin said, referring to 395.16, the numerical citation for the EOBR regulation set for June 2012 implementation.

“If anybody says yes, they’re 16 compliant right now, they’re lying to you,” he said. “Because there are too many things undefined around 16 to say you’re complaint.”

McLaughlin said as the rule currently stands, there is nothing that “would require a hardware change as is.” That includes the ability to transmit data via universal serial bus, display certain error codes and allow drivers to write annotations on logs.

But the specifications also require that EOBRs have a physical plate identifying them as devices that meet FMCSA standards, something that PeopleNet devices do not currently have, McLaughlin said.

PeopleNet asked if, instead of the physical plate, it could put that wording on the screen through the software.

“That’s under consideration,” McLaughlin said, adding that PeopleNet has asked MCSAC to consider recommending that to FMCSA.

“[FMCSA] seemed open to changing that; it makes good sense,” he said.

Matt Voda, PeopleNet’s vice president of product management, said in a separate session that the company is making changes to its driver logging system in phases.

“We do know that there are some things that are very likely to be cemented as part of that regulation,” he said. “We’re up against a timeline in 2012, so we decided to work on the things that we know.”