WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a proposal
to require interstate commercial truck and bus companies to use Electronic
Logging Devices (ELDs) in their vehicles to improve compliance with the safety
rules that govern the number of hours a driver can work.
The proposed rulemaking would significantly reduce
the paperwork burden associated with hours-of-service recordkeeping for
interstate truck and bus drivers - the largest in the federal government
following tax-related filings - and improve the quality of logbook data.
"Today's proposal will improve safety while
helping businesses by cutting unnecessary paperwork - exactly the type of
government streamlining President Obama called for in his State of the Union
address," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "By leveraging
innovative technology with Electronic Logging Devices, we have the opportunity
to save lives and boost efficiency for both motor carriers and safety
inspectors."
The proposed rule will ultimately reduce
hours-of-service violations by making it more difficult for drivers to
misrepresent their time on logbooks and avoid detection by FMCSA and law
enforcement personnel. Analysis shows it will also help reduce crashes by
fatigued drivers and prevent approximately 20 fatalities and 434 injuries each
year for an annual safety benefit of $394.8 million.
"By implementing Electronic Logging Devices, we
will advance our mission to increase safety and prevent fatigued drivers from
getting behind the wheel," said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator
Anne S. Ferro. "With broad support from safety advocates, carriers and
members of Congress, we are committed to achieving this important step in the
commercial bus and truck industries."
The Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
which was sent to the Federal Register to publish on March 12, supersedes a
prior 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to electronic on-board recorders.
It includes provisions to:
- Respect driver privacy by ensuring that ELD records
continue to reside with the motor carriers and drivers. Electronic logs
will continue to only be made available to FMCSA personnel or law
enforcement during roadside inspections, compliance reviews and post-crash
investigations.
- Protect drivers from
harassment through an
explicit prohibition on harassment by a motor carrier owner towards a
driver using information from an ELD. It will also establish a procedure
for filing a harassment complaint and creates a maximum civil penalty of
up to $11,000 for a motor carrier that engages in harassment of a driver
that leads to an hours-of-service violation or the driver operating a
vehicle when they are so fatigued or ill it compromises safety. The
proposal will also ensure that drivers continue to have access to their
own records and require ELDs to include a mute function to protect against
disruptions during sleeper berth periods.
- Increase efficiency for law
enforcement personnel and inspectors who review driver logbooks by making it more difficult for a
driver to cheat when submitting their records of duty status and ensuring
the electronic logs can be displayed and reviewed electronically, or
printed, with potential violations flagged.
In developing the updated proposal, FMCSA relied on
input from its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, feedback from two
public listening sessions and comments filed during an extended period
following the 2011 proposed rule. The proposal also incorporates the mandates
included in the most recent transportation bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress
in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act, and other statutes.
Impaired driving, including fatigue, was listed as a
factor in more than 12 percent of the 129,120 total crashes that involved large
trucks or buses in 2012.
On August 1, 2013, the Obama Administration
announced another proposal to eliminate a burdensome daily paperwork
requirement for professional truck drivers, daily vehicle inspection reports,
and reduce costs to the industry by an estimated $1.7 billion annually while
maintaining safety standards: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2013/FMCSA-46-13
