Page 21 - Newcom

Canada can learn from prior mistakes when mandating ELDs
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
Canada’s long-awaited electronic logging device (ELD) mandate should differ from the U.S. rule to avoid some of the pitfalls that befell the rollout of similar legisla- tion there. That was the opinion of a panel that discussed the issue at the Surface Transportation Summit Oct. 10. Steven Laskowski, head of the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) and Canadian Trucking Alli- ance (CTA), pointed out one defi- ciency in the U.S. rules – the fact vendors can self-certify their own devices.
Some ELDs on the market produce logs that can be easily modified.
“What we have seen and found is the ability for people to rewrite their hours-of-service,” Laskowski said. “With (some of) these devices it’s a push of a button.”
He said the Canadian industry is lobbying for third-party certifica- tion of devices to prevent this prob- lem, but he noted the vast majority of suppliers do meet the technical requirements.
Canada’s ELD regulation has been held up by bureaucratic red tape. Unlike in the U.S., where the federal government mandates inter- state carriers, in Canada all prov- inces must handle enforcement.
“You’re not dealing at the table one-on-one with the feds, you’re dealing with seven, 10 other juris- dictions,” Laskowski said. “There was political foot-dragging on this.”
Mark Seymour, chairman of Kriska Group, shared his company’s experience when rolling out ELDs voluntarily between 2011 and 2014.
“We took three years,” he said. “We wanted to do it at the right pace that didn’t disrupt the busi- ness, didn’t disrupt the people, and there were things we did to try not to choke the system.”
Seymour is a fan of the technology.
“The old paper-based log system is ludicrous,” he said. “And for those we’ll be introducing to our business in years to come, to teach them a system like
that would frankly likely be enough to turn people away from our industry.” He encouraged carriers that
haven’t yet made the transition to give themselves ample time and to implement them methodically.
“To wait and rush is just a recipe for disaster,” he said.
Because Kriska was an early adopter, it lost some drivers who resisted the change.
“We had some contraction of the fleet size through that period of time, with individuals who had the oppor- tunity to go work somewhere else under the old paper-based system,” Seymour admitted. “In many cases, when the (U.S.) mandate hit, places they went to weren’t ready, were dis- organized, and in many cases they came back.”
Kriska offered drivers who vol- unteered to switch to e-logs pay increases. Seymour also admitted there were some operational changes required when the company con- verted to electronic logs. The com- pany educated its shippers on the implications of ELDs and pushed harder against shippers to allow driv- ers to park at their facilities.
“Operationally, we said let the driver sleep in your yard for morn- ing appointments or they get there when they get there,” he said. “Our drivers need a safe, convenient place to sleep and the best place to do that is in your yard if you want them there at eight in the morning. Operationally there had to be lots of consideration given to the rules by which the drivers then had to oper- ate within in a very rigid manner.”
Barry Somerville, safety proj- ect manager at FedEx Ground, was also an early adopter of ELDs. The biggest mistake FedEx made, said Somerville, was allowing contractors to choose from a list of approved devices. That caused inconsistencies the company is still trying to clean up by mov- ing to a single vendor. It also pre- sented complications when drivers switched trucks and had to famil-
iarized themselves with another platform. However, he said the ben- efits of moving to e-logs were unde- niable.
“We were manually collecting log- books and we would manually key it into the transportation manage- ment system,” he said. “It’s archaic.”
Moving to e-logs also puts more pressure on shippers to do their part to make good use of a driver’s time, Seymour said.
“It’s the appreciation and respect
of the number of hours per day that a truck driver has to work and frankly, to make a living,” he said. “It imposes upon the shipper and receiver the impact they have on that workday on things like dwell time, things like allowing drivers to sleep in the yard. Maybe providing that option of switching trailers as opposed to live unload. What piece of that day do you own and what can you do to improve upon your own- ership of that piece?” TN
CTA sounds alarm about ELD manipulation
TORONTO, ONTARIO
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is urging the government to require third-party certification when it mandates electronic logging devices (ELDs). In the U.S., vendors are allowed to self-certify their devices to have them listed on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website for approved devices. The CTA voted unanimously to change its position on
the matter.
“Our preliminary investigation shows multiple self-certified devices in the
U.S. marketplace have the capability to allow fleets and drivers to edit hours- of-service, specifically drive time. We believe there are thousands of these units installed in trucks currently traveling cross-border into the U.S.,” said Angelique Magi, national vice-president of transportation and strategic ini- tiatives. “While we can’t speak for other insurers, I can tell you that when we discover these devices within a customer’s fleet, we require they remove these devices or risk having their insurance canceled mid-term for not meet- ing the U.S. federal regulations.” TN
November 2018 • Truck News 21