CVSE Initiates Stakeholder Engagement On Electronic Logging Devices

Sep 24, 2020 - 4 years ago

In April of 2020, Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement (CVSE) invited stakeholders to provide feedback on the modernizing of safety regulations for Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMV’s). Specifically, as of June 12, 2021, commercial vehicles that cross provincial borders must be Equipped with an Electronic Logging Device (ELD). In response to these changes to the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations, the province will need to decide what the requirements will be for CMVs operating within BC.
The Log Truck Technical Advisory Committee (LTTAC), an industry-based group comprised of log hauling contractors, provincial agencies, FP Innovations, RCMP and the BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC) met via teleconference on April 21, 2020 to discuss the groups’ perspective on the implementation of ELDs in the log hauling sector. Members unanimously supported the implementation of ELD’s and their aim of improving safety in the sector.
Although there are some concerns regarding monthly subscription costs and data privacy, the members were primarily focused on the safety benefits. Working collectively with licensees to support contractors and drivers in compliance with Hours of Service (HOS) can only assist industry as it continues its commitment and collaboration to reduce log hauling incidents.
The LTTAC is committed to working with the Trucking Harvesting Advisory Group (TAG) to support drivers and contractors to reduce this risk. For log hauling, industry needs to adapt to support the notion that drivers should not be working more than 15 hours in a day, the maximum duty day for log hauling, and in fact, should be targeting fewer than 15 hours to be practical.
As an industry committed to improving safety in log hauling operations, we need to ensure drivers have plenty of time to fulfill their duty day even when things don’t go as planned without bumping into the 15 hour maximum. Pressure, resulting in rushing, can be a challenging problem in the sector. Until trucking contractors have confidence that cycle times will be realistically established, and not just under ideal conditions, and that they can approach the licensee with real data (such as is available from ELDs) with the expectation of cycles being adjusted accordingly, safety will continue to be an issue. ELD’s will help support trucking contractors and drivers with these issues.