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January 29, 2007
AGENCY URGED TO REQUIRE ELECTRONIC DRIVER MONITORING
The FMCSA’s release of a new standard governing electronic on-board monitor of truck driver hours has drawn a sharp response from Public Citizen. It said, “After being rebuked by a federal court” for having no requirement, “FMCSA has again failed the public by releasing today a very weak standard for electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs). EOBRs in all trucks hold great promise for detecting - and deterring - violations of the hours-of-service rules. Hours-of-service rules are intended to protect all of us - truckers themselves, as well as everyone else on the highways - from the grave risks of having overworked, exhausted drivers on the nation's roads. But FMCSA has squandered a real opportunity to protect the public.”
FMCSA’s new proposed rule would require recorders “only for trucking companies that have been caught significantly violating hours-of-service rules. We know that many more companies violate these rules because their drivers keep fake log books (which are so legendarily erroneous that they are known in the trade as ‘comic books’), but they are not detected. Under the FMCSA rule, these scofflaws can continue to violate the law without
consequences and put the public at risk. These recorders should be mandated in an across-the-board standard that treats all companies equally.”
Posted by MVHAP at January 29, 2007 03:47 PM