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Northern Utah Truckers and Authorities Prepare for New Electronic Logging Device Rule (community issue story)

December 11, 2017 | By Terence Larson

For decades, truck drivers have been required to log the number of hours they drive and work each day under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.

The logs are meant to ensure compliance with safety rules limiting the time truckers can drive to no more than 11 hours and to work no more than 14 hours in a 24-hour period. The rules also regulate when truckers must take breaks and days off.

Truckers’ logs are subject to inspection by law enforcement and transportation officials. Violators can be fined, lose safety points with the Department of Transportation (for both the drivers and their carriers) and be put out of service for 10 hours or until they’re compliant.

Until recently, truckers used paper logs to record their hours. However, that will soon change. Starting Dec. 18, commercial trucks will have to have electronic logging devices installed to track driver hours. The hours-of-service rules won’t change.

While paper logs are hand entered and rely on the honor system, electronic logs automatically record truckers’ driving time and make it harder to cheat.

The implementation of this new rule has been a long time coming. The Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration developed the rule, which was mandated by a 2012 act passed by Congress and signed by President Obama.

While some in the trucking industry oppose the rule, truckers and trucking companies across the country and in Cache Valley are preparing for the change.

Cheryl Pinder and her husband operate Taz Ag Trucking in Young Ward. They own six trucks that haul rebar, grain, cattle and gravel.

Their company just spent $14,000 to install electronic logs on its trucks, Pinder said. In addition, it will cost another $50 per month for each truck’s device to transmit data.

Besides the cost, Pinder said the devices and hours-of-service rules are inflexible and can cause delays for drivers and companies.

“There’s no room for error,” she said.

If truckers go over their hours because there’s a traffic delay, or it takes longer than expected to load, it means they have to park their trucks. This might mean an extra day of driving. Truckers might also be late delivering their cargo, she said.

That’s a bigger problem for drivers hauling livestock.

“I don’t think, all along the freeways there’s a place to unload cattle, let them eat, let them drink, and put them back on the trailer the next morning,” Pinder said.

Pinder also sees electronic logs as a violation of truckers’ privacy. With the devices, she can see the location of her company’s trucks from her laptop. She knows if truckers do things like stop to visit girlfriends, which is none of her business, she said.

Two larger trucking companies in the valley, L.W. Miller Companies and Sharp Transportation Inc., also have to comply with the law.

L.W. Miller’s had electronic logs installed in 95 percent of its trucks as of November, said Jay Keller, the company’s safety supervisor.

“We’re planning on being ready a month early, so we can run the regulation a month before it gets into law enforcement,” Keller said.

Sharp Transportation has used electronic logs in its trucks since 2010, said Mark Adams, the company’s safety director. He said electronic logs cut down on problems with drivers not following regulations.

“It’s more of a liability thing,” Adams said. “If you’re not compliant with the hours of service, you just open yourself up to other issues.”

While the trucking industry prepares for the new rule, law enforcement and government agencies are also getting ready to enforce it.

The Utah Highway Patrol is one of the few agencies in the state certified to inspect commercial vehicles and enforce federal transportation laws, said Highway Patrol Cpl. Justin Cloward.

All Utah Highway Patrol troopers receive four hours of commercial-vehicle-inspection training, he said. However, the commercial-vehicle section he’s attached to is required to take eight additional hours of training about electronic logs.

Cloward said the new rule will take some getting used to, but it will be good for the safety of truckers and motorists.

“It’s going to be different,” he said. “It’s going to be something that we’re going to have to get used to, but in the long run, I think it’s going to be a great asset for the driver as well as the carriers in promoting safety.”

Like Cloward, Adam Anderson, supervisor of Utah Department of Transportation’s port of entry in Perry, said enforcing logging and hours-of-service rules is all about safety.

“We’re just doing what we’re supposed to do,” Anderson said. “Make it safe so the driver can make it home everyday.”

However, law enforcement and regulators will give drivers and trucking companies a little break.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced a grace period of until April 1. Up to that date, truckers and carriers will be given fines and lose safety points for not having certified electronic logging devices installed, but they won't be put out of service.

The alliance issues guidelines for what violations put drivers out of service and for how long. It consists of members representing the trucking and insurance industries along with different state and federal regulatory agencies.

However, some individuals in the trucking industry are still anxious about the rule. Pinder said her company’s drivers are having a hard time getting used to the devices and predicts problems when the deadline comes.

“I’ve had three drivers quit since the mandate,” she said. “My drivers that are 60, that are ready to retire, three of them have left — last one just parked his truck yesterday.”

More about electronic logging devices

• In a study, trucks with electronic logs had a 5.1 percent lower preventable-accident rate and 11.7 percent lower rate of all accidents than those without, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
• Drivers of trucks with electronic logs also had a 53 percent lower rate of driving-related hours-of-service violations and 49 percent lower rate of non-driving-related hours-of-service violations.
• Drivers of trucks built before the year 2000, which are incompatible with electronic logging devices, are exempt from the electronic log mandate because they don’t rely as much on computers as newer vehicles.
• Truckers who don’t operate outside a 100-mile radius more than eight days in a 30-day period don’t need to install electronic logs.