US Regulators to Study Universal EOBR Rule

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says it may expand its proposed requirement for electronic onboard recorders to include all carriers.

FMCSA's current proposal calls for an (EOBRs) mandate only for "repeat violators" of hours-of-service rules.

After months of criticism from safety groups and the trucking industry, FMCSA Administrator John Hill has indicated in the past that regulators might be willing to look at other options. According to a report on Truckinginfo.com, Hill confirmed this week in remarks to the National Industrial Transportation League that he will be asking FMCSA staff to look at ways "we can expand that rule and still be within the scope of what we published.

Under the proposed rule, only truckers with two serious hours-of-service violations within a two-year period would be charged, ignore countless of other potentially dangerous fleets, critics say.

Hill did not say the agency would definitely switch to a universal mandate, but this indicated that the FMCSA is seriously considering a stricter approach. Last year, the FMCSA's sister agency, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, expressed concern that the rule currently on the table lacks the "resources or processes necessary to identify and discipline all carriers and drivers who are pattern violators."

"The only way in which EOBRs can effectively help stem hours-of-service violations, and thereby reduce accidents involving a commercial driver’s reduced alertness or fatigue, is for the FMCSA to mandate EOBR installation and use by all operators," the NTSB said.

Today’s Trucking; April 17, 2008

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