A hot topic these days in the fleet tracking systems industry is the highway bill passed by Congress in June 2012. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) bill was created to improve the safety of commercial motor vehicles based on three core principles:
- The barriers to entry must be higher in order to prevent unsafe drivers from operating in the first place
- Drivers must be held to the highest safety standards
- The highest risk drivers must be prevented from operating and the highest risk vehicles must be removed from the roads
Based on these principles, some of the safety initiatives that will stem from this mandate include:
- A requirement for all drivers who must currently use paper logs to switch to electronic logs
- The establishment of a drug and alcohol clearinghouse for drivers
- The development of a system to notify employers when a driver’s status changes
- The establishment of registration requirements to prevent unsafe drivers or carriers from starting new operations
- The development of a system to ensure that new drivers fully comprehend the safety rules before they are allowed to enter the industry
To accomplish the first goal, an electric on-board recorder (EOBR) will be a requirement for drivers that must keep logs.
Fleet Tracking Systems and MAP-21
The final rules for this new mandate are scheduled to be released in July 2013 and they will then have two years to go into effect. After the rules are released, the fleet tracking systems industry will have all the information it needs to develop solutions that will be compliant with the mandate.
Some of the criteria that will be included in the EOBR mandate are:
- The ability to accurately record hours of service
- The ability to record locations
- Tamper resistance to ensure objectivity
- The use of technology that senses vehicle movement
- Access for law enforcement inspections
- A standard user interface
GPSTrackIt’s Driver Tablet Site has a time clock feature that can address this issue immediately. However, since the mandate has not yet been finalized, there are no certification standards defined for the fleet tracking systems industry. This means that no provider is certified yet for this mandate, but when the standards are available you can be sure GPSTrackIt will certify a solution as quickly as possible. In the meantime, having drivers switch to electronic logs now will help create good habits and allow you to integrate your other systems in preparation of the finalization of the mandate.
If you want to start using electronic logs for your drivers, contact GPSTrackIt today to learn more about what we are doing to help you maintain compliance with this mandate.
Are your drivers required to keep paper logs? How do you plan to transition to electronic time keeping?
