By TruckingInfo Staff
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for additional comments on whether its proposed mandate for electronic onboard recorders sets up the possibility of driver harassment.
The agency believes its proposal would ensure that EOBRs are not used to harass drivers, but in reaction to a recent suit challenging its treatment of harassment in an earlier EOBR rule, it wants to be sure that everyone has a chance to comment on the issue.
The suit was brought by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association against last year’s rule requiring any carrier that violates the hours of service rules 10 percent of the time to install EOBRs in its trucks. In its suit OOIDA raised concerns about the potential for EOBR harassment. The rule, which is scheduled to go into effect in July 2012, is now under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
The safety agency is looking for comments on the proposal it published earlier this year that would expand the EOBR requirement to most of the industry rather than just the 10 percent violators.
The agency is required by law to consider the possibility of harassment – defined as an invasion of driver privacy – in drafting an eobr requirement. The agency notes that the same law permits EOBRs to be used to monitor driver productivity, and there are rules that prohibit carriers from using EOBRs to harass drivers for productivity reasons.
It would like interested parties to comment on several questions:
* Any experience drivers have had regarding harassment, including coercion by carriers to evade the hours of service rules.
* Whether such actions would be permitted as part of the EOBR productivity monitoring function.
* Whether EOBRs would impact the ability of carriers or shippers to coerce drivers to violate the hours of service rules.
* Whether there should be additional rules to ensure that EOBRs are not used for harassment.
The request is being published in today’s Federal Register. Deadline for comments is May 23.
Printer Friendly Version
Email This Story
RSS
Government/Regulations: Related News
4/13/2011 – FMCSA Proposes Details of Mexico Trucking Pilot Program
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed its plan for a three-year pilot program in which Mexican and U.S. carriers could offer long-distance service into each country.
The program is the result of an agreement between President Obama and President Calderón of Mexico to resolve the long-standing dispute over cross-border trucking. FMCSA will publish the details of the program in the Federal Register on Thursday and will take comments for 30 days….
More
4/13/2011 – FMCSA Seeks Comments on EOBRs and Driver Harassment
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for additional comments on whether its proposed mandate for electronic onboard recorders sets up the possibility of driver harassment.
The agency believes its proposal would ensure that EOBRs are not used to harass drivers, but in reaction to a recent suit challenging its treatment of harassment in an earlier EOBR rule, it wants to be sure that everyone has a chance to comment on the issue….
More
4/13/2011 – ATA Chairman Windsor Calls for Sensible Hazmat Regulations
American Trucking Associations Chairman Barbara Windsor, president and CEO of Hahn Transportation, told a House panel that changes are needed to the regulations governing hazmat shipments to improve efficiency and relieve unnecessary regulatory burdens….
More
4/12/2011 – Right to Repair Act Introduced in Congress
Representatives Todd Platts, R-Pa., and Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., have introduced the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act, HR 1449, into the 112th Congress….
More
4/11/2011 – WIT Meets With NTSB Chair
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman spent nearly four days recently immersed in activities to help her better understand the trucking industry….
More
4/11/2011 – Senate Bill Would Create Clearinghouse for Drug and Alcohol Test Results
The Senate last week opened another front in the long-running effort to establish a national clearinghouse for truck driver drug and alcohol test results.
The Safe Roads Act of 2011, introduced by Sens. Mark Pryor and John Boozman, both Republicans from Arkansas, would give the Department of Transportation two years after passage to establish the clearinghouse…
More
4/8/2011 – Bill Would Allow States to Raise Truck Weight Limits
A bill was introduced in the Senate Thursday that would put an end to the federal freeze on changes in truck sizes and weights, allowing states to allow 97,000-pound, six-axle rigs on their highways….
More
4/7/2011 – CARB Offers Special Compliance Option for California On-Road Fleets
The California Air Resources Board announced an early action compliance credit for trucking fleets that install a particulate filter by July 1, 2011, or that make a commitment to purchase a particulate filter by May 1, 2011….
More
4/7/2011 – 2011 NAT GAS Act Introduced
The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions of 2011, or NAT GAS, Act, was introduced Wednesday to provide incentives for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel, the purchase of natural-gas-fueled vehicles, and the installation of natural gas vehicle refueling infrastructure….
More
4/6/2011 – ATA Points Out Outdated Rules to DOT
Responding to President Obama’s call to help reduce the regulatory burden on U.S. businesses, the American Trucking Associations highlighted nine outdated, obsolete or onerous rules that the Department of Transportation should reconsider….
More
4/6/2011 – CARB Makes Over $100 Million Available For Truck Clean-Up
The California Air Resources Board in coordination with six local air districts is offering $106 million in grant funding to help qualified diesel truck owners upgrade or replace their vehicles….
More
4/5/2011 – EPA Streamlines Aftermarket Natural Gas Conversion
The federal government just made it easier to convert cars and trucks to run on natural gas….
More
4/4/2011 – EOBR Mandate Reintroduced in Senate
Two senators have restarted last year’s effort to pass a bill that would mandate electronic onboard recorders on most trucks.
Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., reintroduced the Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act, a bill they offered last September but that expired at the end of the congressional session….
More
4/1/2011 – CVSA: Cutting Funding Will Weaken Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
As Congress looks for ways to cut the federal budget and deficit, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance warned a Congressional committee that funding commercial motor vehicle safety programs at lower than current levels would weaken state enforcement efforts. As a result, enforcement would be unable to maintain the progress that has been made and large truck-related injuries and deaths could tick upwards….
More
3/23/2011 – FHWA Launches New Bridge Safety Initiative
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a new bridge oversight initiative that will let the Federal Highway Administration more closely monitor how states are performing their bridge inspections and maintenance….
More
3/17/2011 – Senator Kerry Introduces Infrastructure Bank Bill
At a press conference Tuesday, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), announced legislation to create an infrastructure bank that would help close America’s widening infrastructure funding gap and create millions of American jobs in the next decade….
More
3/17/2011 – Ferro Explains FMCSA Approach to Mexican EOBR Decision
The U.S. plan to equip Mexican trucks with electronic recorders for driver logs would be a limited, temporary program undertaken because it’s the only way the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can ensure that the Mexican trucks will be monitored, said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro….
More
3/11/2011 – Rep. Defazio Opposes Funding for Mexican EOBRs, Questions Authority to Grant Mexican Carriers Permanent Access
In a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), expressed concern of U.S. DOT funding or EOBRs for Mexican carriers participating in the pilot program….
More
3/10/2011 – FMCSA, Small Carrier Groups Settle CSA Suit
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has settled a suit by three trucking associations over information published in the CSA program.
The agency said in the Wednesday announcement that it will change the way it displays CSA safety scores, in response to the carrier groups’ contention that the original plan was flawed and should have gone through a public-comment procedure….
More
3/9/2011 – ATA Asks PHMSA to Block Roadside Hazmat Package Inspections
The American Trucking Associations asked the Obama administration to prevent the opening and inspection of hazardous materials shipments along the roadside, unless it is believed the shipment poses an imminent danger or does not comply with the hazardous materials regulations….
More
3/4/2011 – Retailers Say Shorter Hours for Truck Drivers Would Increase Costs and Congestion
The National Retail Federation told federal transportation officials this week that a proposal to limit the number of hours truck drivers spend behind the wheel each day would increase costs for businesses and consumers…
More
3/4/2011 – CARB Nears End of 90-Day Grace Period on 2003 TRUs
Owners of 2003-model-year transport refrigeration units have until the end of this month to meet new California Air Resources Board standards….
More
3/3/2011 – Bipartisan Group Urges Administration to Abandon Proposed HOS Changes
A bipartisan group of Congressmen and Senators called on the Obama administration to abandon its controversial hours-of-service proposal and retain the current safety rules.
“The rules currently in place are working well and do not need to be changed,” 122 representatives wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood….
More
3/2/2011 – Texting Ban Announced for Hazmat Drivers
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a final rule this week prohibiting texting on electronic devices by drivers transporting hazardous materials….
More
3/2/2011 – GAO Study Examines Societal Costs of Transportation Modes
A study by the Government Accountability Office finds that shippers do not pay the full societal cost of freight service in any mode, but particularly in trucking.
External trucking costs, such as accidents, pollution and congestion, are six times greater than similar costs created by railroads and at least nine times greater than those created by waterways, GAO said in its report to the House Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures….
More
3/2/2011 – Cost of CSA Will Rise as Program Ramps Up
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration created and launched its new CSA safety enforcement program with a small number of staff, outside contractors and existing budget, but now that the program is ramping up it will require considerably more resources, said the Government Accountability Office….
More
3/1/2011 – ATA Challenges Research in Hours of Service Proposal
The American Trucking Associations is upping its campaign against the Federal Motor Carrier Administration’s proposed changes to the hours of service rule.
ATA asked a researcher whose work the agency cites in support of the proposal to review the agency’s findings. Prof. Francesco Cappuccio, an epidemiologist at the Warwick Medical School in Coventry, U.K., replied that the work he participated in does not support the agency’s conclusions….
More
2/28/2011 – FMCSA Expands Pre-Employment Screening Program
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration added a new feature to the screening program that gives carriers a look at the history of a driver who is applying for a job.
The agency is making data available on co-driver safety and post-crash violations, in addition to the roadside inspection and crash records that employers already can see. …
More