Electronic On board Recorders – Some Truckers asked for it

Some truck drivers have been asking for this rule for a long time. Well, now they got it. Why do I say that some truckers have been asking for EOBR’s?

Well, let’s see all drivers know the rules and regulations that truck drivers are federally mandated to comply with. It was simple as being compliant with the rules and this would not have gone this far. If some truck drivers would learn the rules and live by them they would be a lot better off.

I know companies tell drivers to do somethings or else, and the driver does it for fear of losing their job. But a company cannot fire you for refusing to drive or work illegally. But if you refuse something you had better make sure you’re in the right.

Sure truck drivers can and will try to lay the blame on some activist groups that were pushing hard to get this rule in place. But the fact of the matter is that truck drivers and companies brought this rule upon themselves, and have no one else to blame, but themselves. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) electronic on board recorder rule was published into the Federal Register on April 5th, 2010. The new rule will go into effect on June 4th, with full compliance mandate by June 4th, 2012.

The rule states that motor carriers with equal to or greater than ten percent hours-of-service violation rates during one compliance review will be ordered to implement the use of an approved EOBR. After said carrier has received a notice, hazardous material haulers have 45 days to install the device and all others have 60 days. The carrier will have to keep the recorder installed for a minimum of two years.

If a carrier receives a notice, the recorders will have to be installed on all trucks – even owner operator trucks leased to the carrier, even if they are operating under their own authority. If a carrier decides to ignore the decree to install the recorder, the carrier would no longer be allowed to operate in interstate commerce and could also have its authority revoked by the FMCSA.

The final rule also lays the framework on how the EOBR will work. The recorder must record information such as the driver name, date and time, location, distance traveled, and shipping paper numbers or the name of the shipper and commodity. The EOBR has to record any driving time, if the truck is used as a personal vehicle then the driver will have to input a note to that affect before the truck starts moving. During the tracking of the vehicle, if the trucks sit for more than five minutes idle, the EOBR must default to the on-duty not driving and the driver will need to add the proper duty status. When the truck is moving the EOBR must record the time and location once every 60 minutes.

Now with all that said the FMCSA also looked into tampering with the EOBR and came to the conclusion that the EOBR records must not be altered by the driver, carrier, or a third party. If one needs to make a record correction the EOBR will store the original entry as well as the corrected one. Drivers will be allowed to make explanatory notes to the EOBR record if a special circumstance arises.

Also as the FMCSA mentioned any carrier that takes initiative to install EOBR’s on their own are allowed to do so. As an incentive the FMCSA will only require those carriers to maintain supporting documents that have the ability to verify on-duty not driving and off duty statuses. The companies that are mandated to use the EOBR still must do all record keeping requirements.

So how does a company keep from being mandated to use EOBR’s? Stay compliant with the HOS rules and make sure every driver does it right.

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