Trucking Group Backs Mandated Electronic Driver Logs

Truck drivers should be required to use electronic devices to log their hours of service, the American Trucking Associations said Thursday.

The ATA adopted a policy endorsing mandatory use of electronic logs, saying such a requirement would improve hours of service enforcement.

"ATA has always been in favor of strong enforcement of safety rules and regulations," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. "This new policy just underlines that support."

The association is opposed to proposed changes to the hours of service rules that would significantly shorten the time truckers could work per day and per week. But the ATA has said it would prefer tougher enforcement of the existing hours of service rules. Mandating the use of electronic logs would be a step in that direction, ATA said.

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Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., introduced a bill March 31 that would require motor carriers to use electronic onboard recorders.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering whether to require trucking companies to use EOBRs to monitor driver hours of service.

Not all truckers think mandatory electronic logging is a good idea. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposes mandating electronic recorders.

Requiring truckers to install EOBRs would place a costly burden on independent drivers, said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA.

"EOBRs are nothing more than over-priced record keepers lobbied by big business trucking companies to wipe out small business competition," Spencer said.

-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @Wbcassidy_joc.