A proposal that would require the installation of electronic in-vehicle recorders in commercial trucks that would keep tabs on truckers’ work hours is being debated in Congress at the moment, and the truck organizations themselves seem to be divided on the measure, reports USA Today.
The boxes, simpler versions of a plane’s black box, would be used to ensure that truck drivers do not work more than their federal limit of 70 hours in eight days, then 34 hours off. Right now, truckers keep track of their hours in paper log-books. The boxes wouldn’t be useful in determining the cause of accidents, however, only for collecting information on when the vehicle is moving and when the truck driver is working.
The Owner-Operated Independent Driver Association, a 150,000 member group, strongly opposes the proposal, claiming that the boxes will come with unnecessary expenses, betray driver privacy, and do little to improve record keeping.
On the other side, The American Trucking Associations (ATA) adamantly supports the measure, saying that it will cut down on illegal driving.
“There are people who are driving illegally because of these paper logs,” says Sean McNally, the spokesman for the ATA based in Arlington, VA,. “Our fleet members who are using (recorders) tell us it cuts down on hours-of-service violations, makes it less burdensome to do paperwork, that they have fewer violations and comply with (federal) rules more effectively.”
We will keep you updated when more information becomes available.
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