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Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) – What’s Next?
In August 2011, the Seventh Circuit court vacated the EOBR 395.16 rulemaking based on a determination that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had not adequately addressed the potential for driver harassment with the new guidelines. FMCSA later indicated that it would redo the EOBR rulemaking and not appeal the judge’s decision. Since FMCSA’s proposed EOBR mandate rulemaking depended on the 395.16 rule for technical guidelines, it appears that the mandate will also be delayed. So what is next, and when?
The Cost of Electronic On-board Recorders
A few blog posts ago, I covered the differences between ELDs, EOBRs, and AOBRDs. Having brought some clarity to this array of technology and acronyms, an unanswered question was: “What do these things cost?” The cost, as you might expect, depends.
The Mandate for Electronic On-board Recorders
On September 29, 2010, Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced legislation, Senate Bill S.3884, that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue a mandate for motor carriers to use electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to log truck driver hours electronically. This bill is being advocated by a coalition of motor carriers and others that believe transportation logistics will result in improved safety performance through fewer driver fatigue-related accidents. The mandate will ensure all motor carriers and drivers follow the same rules.
ELDs and EOBRs – What’s the Difference?
Part of the fun of technology is getting a new vocabulary of acronyms. The latest for automated driver logs is ELDs – or electronic logging devices. According to some reports, ELDs are not only better than Electronic On-board Recorders (EOBRs), but they cost less. That’s progress! This does raise a question, though: Where do these terms come from? I did some research, and the number of terms that may also apply to ELD and EOBR type devices is more than you might expect.
EOBR Mandate? Think Bigger.
The EOBR mandate appears like it is going to happen. The FMCSA has already issued a proposed rulemaking. Congress has introduced legislation to force FMCSA to act on timely basis if it does not on its own.
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