The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has long held that its "hours of service" (HOS) cap on commercial truck drivers has been a cornerstone of its efforts to reduce truck accidents on the nation's roadways. It states that the ceiling placed on hours driven and rest periods mandated within specified reporting periods has greatly reduced accidents and fatalities and contributed fundamentally to road safety.

The FMCSA sought recently to shore up its HOS rules by making it mandatory for drivers it considers relatively unsafe -- those having a greater than 10 percent rate of noncompliance with HOS rules -- to install Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) that automatically track driving and rest periods. The FMCSA states that its identified problem truckers have a 40 percent higher accident rate than other drivers, and that the paper logbooks that are customarily used in the industry to record hours are easily manipulated and susceptible of fraud.

The new rule was to take effect from June 2012, but it has now been put on hold after having been struck down recently by a three-panel federal court. The court noted that the FMCSA failed to follow explicit instructions from Congress to first consider as part of the rulemaking process how the new rule might be used to harass affected truckers.

That concern arises because the EOBR provides real-time information that could result in a motor carrier pressuring truckers to perform at higher levels even while tired. Many truckers note that the EOBR would prevent them from using their own discretion to determine whether, and to what extent, they are fatigued.

Despite the ruling, there is strong support in the industry for mandating use of EOBRs. The American Trucking Associations, a major industry player, favors an EOBR on every commercial trucker's vehicle, and a new FMCSA proposal has already been made that acts on that suggestion.

Related Resource: Courthouse News Service, "Truckers Rebuff Call for Electronic Hour Gauges" Sept. 1, 2011