3 June 2003

Time will tell for hours-of-service rules

The following article is excerpted from the 30 May 2003 edition of “The Journal of Commerce” on-line.

For the thousands of Canadian and American truckers who tote goods across the border, there's debate over how much good will come from new binational rules stating how many hours they can be behind the wheel each day.

What is sure is that nearly a decade of navigation through a warren of vested interests, in both countries, is finally ending with new hours of service rules and that have been coordinated with a fair degree of uniformity between the trading partners. Similar rules make sense for planning and operations by drivers and their employers, since by agreement they are governed by the rules of the country they're driving in regardless of nationality.

The United States' final rules were published early this month and go into effect in June. There will be a transitional "self-enforcement period" until the end of this year with sanctions slated to begin in January 2004.

In Canada, the federal Transport department is preparing its own final rules, which it expects to come into force late this year or early next year.

Canada will reduce daily maximum driving time to 13 hours from 16 hours in a 24-hour period. The U.S. will increase drive time by one hour, to 11 hours, during that same period. The U.S. permits three additional hours of work not at the wheel; Canada allows one. Both stipulate a maximum of 14 hours of driving/working. …

A driver could drive and/or work 84 hours in seven days in either country. Many will.

Confused? In Canada, the rules require two work/rest cycles (there are three now), and permit a maximum of 70 hours at work over seven days or 120 hours over 14 days. In the United States, the rules call for 60 hours of work in seven days or 70 hours in eight days. But then comes the re-set. In Canada, for example, a driver works his or her maximum 70 hours in five days (5 x 14), and re-sets the cycle by taking a mandatory 36 hours of rest (34 hours in the U.S.). After that rest, there still would be 14 hours of driving/working time left in the seven-day period. "When you work out the possible hours in the United States' cycle system, it comes to 84 hours as well," says Brian Orrbine, chief of the Motor Carrier Group in Transport Canada. Under Canada's old rules, a driver using every legal cycle stratagem could drive and work 108 hours in seven days.

Although both countries require 10 hours off-duty in every 24, there are differences in what is allowed. Canada requires at least eight consecutive hours off in the 10, whether a driver uses his truck's sleeper or a motel. …

Motor carriers and industry groups in both countries have pronounced themselves pleased and say the new rules represent the latest and best research into fatigue and sleep. But the Teamsters union in the U.S. is unhappy with the extra hour a day of driving under Washington's new rules, saying it "will hurt safety." The Teamsters in Canada struck a deal with the Canadian Trucking Alliance, winning some trade-off concessions in the consultations leading up to the writing of the new rules, and the union grudgingly supports the package. Some environmental and safety groups in Canada go along, although one, Canadian Citizens for Responsible and Safe Highways (CRASH) says the cumulative total of hours available under the re-set provisions will increase road safety hazards. …