America News: FMCSA proposes mandatory EOBRs for habitual HOS rule violators
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed a rule that will require mandatory installation of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) by truck and bus companies with a history of serious hours-of-service violations.
The errant companies would be required to install EOBRs in all of their commercial vehicles for a minimum of two years.
The proposed ruling also identifies the specs for the technology. EOBRs would be required to record basic information needed to track a driver’s duty status, including driver ID, duty status, date, time and location of the vehicle, and distance travelled.
It would also add a new requirement to use GPS technology or other location tracking systems to automatically identify the location of the vehicle, which further reduces the likelihood of falsification of HOS information.
On-board HOS recording devices installed on or after two years from the effective date of a final rule would have to meet these new technical requirements. However, EOBRs voluntarily installed before that time would be allowed to continue for the life of the vehicle.
If adopted, FMCSA estimates that within the first two years of the rule being enforced, approximately 930 carriers with 17,500 drivers would be required to use EOBRs.
Aiming to encourage more than 650,000 motor carriers to adopt the use of EOBRs, the proposed rule would provide incentives for voluntary use, including partial relief from certain record-keeping requirements.
