The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Friday, Feb. 10, announced its intent to move forward with its rulemaking regarding electronic onboard recorders and hours-of-service supporting documents by preparing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.
FMCSA also announced via the Federal Register several steps to augment its efforts to obtain comprehensive data to support this SNPRM, including:
• Listening sessions on the issue of driver harassment;
• Tasking the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee to assist in developing material to support the rulemaking, including technical specifications for EOBRs and their potential to be used to harass drivers; and
• Conducting research by surveying drivers, carriers and vendors regarding harassment issues.
MCSAC on Wednesday, Feb. 8, finalized a report on mitigating the use of electronic onboard recorders to harass drivers that provides suggestions to FMCSA. The document contained information the agency should explore in any rulemaking on EOBRs for hours of service compliance.
Following the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision last August that vacated the 2010 limited mandate for EOBRs for certain noncompliant carriers, the harassment issue may be the key consideration for the agency. The agency has expressed intent to devise a rule that mandates some version of electronic logging devices for virtually all trucks in interstate commerce.
Harassment issues relative to electronic logs cover driver relationships with law enforcement personnel and with carriers, tilting heavily toward the latter and favoring drivers’ positions in certain instances. For example, a Feb. 8 draft said, “Drivers should be able to save records of carrier contact with drivers.” The statement was presented relative to an item about the difficulty of regulating the role EOBRs can play in hours of service compliance.
“Trying to regulate the difference between productivity measures and carrier actions that result in harassment is difficult because it should be judged by a standard of reasonableness that could be interpreted differently based on a specific factual circumstance,” the item read.
“I’m glad we have some recognition by this committee of the fact that dispatchers can lie,” said MCSAC member Calvin Sturdivant, of Community Coach.
