GPS used to monitor commercial drivers (fwd)

[attila <attila@hun.org>]

    so, how long before they add the device to our cars?

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
49 CFR Part 395
Global Positioning System (GPS) Technology
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of interpretation; request for participation
in pilot demonstration project.
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SUMMARY: The FHWA believes global positioning system (GPS) technology
and many of the complementary safety management computer systems
currently being used by the motor carrier industry, provide at least
the same degree of monitoring accuracy as the ``automatic on-board
recorders'' allowed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
(FMCSRs), 49 CFR 395.15. Accordingly, the FHWA is announcing a
voluntary program under which a motor carrier with GPS technology and
related safety management computer systems may enter into an agreement
with the FHWA to use such systems in a pilot demonstration project to
record and monitor drivers' hours of service in lieu of complying with
the handwritten ``records of duty status'' requirement of the FMCSRs,
49 CFR 395.8. Consistent with the President's initiatives in
reinventing government and regulatory reform, the project is intended
to demonstrate whether the motor carrier industry can use the
technology to improve compliance with the hours-of-service requirements
in a manner which promotes safety and operational efficiency while
reducing paperwork requirements.

<snip>

Background

    On September 30, 1988, the FHWA published a final rule (53 FR
38666) {interesting number?} to allow motor carriers, at their option,
to use certain automatic on-board recording devices to record their
drivers' records of duty status in lieu of the required handwritten
records of duty status. This provision is now codified at 49 CFR
395.15. Many motor carriers that employed that technology found that
their compliance with the hours-of-service regulations improved. New
technologies are emerging, however, and the narrowly crafted on-board
recorder provision is becoming obsolete.

<snip>

    The FHWA is aware of the benefits of GPS technology to monitor and
control drivers' compliance with the hours-of-service regulations.

<snip>

    Premise: Section 395.2 of the FMCSRs defines an ``automatic
on- board recording device'' as ``an electric, electronic,
electromechanical, or mechanical device capable of recording driver's
duty status information accurately and automatically as required by
Sec. 395.15. The device must be integrally synchronized with specific
operations of the commercial motor vehicle in which it is installed. At
a minimum, the device must record engine use, road speed, miles driven,
the date, and time of day.'' Section 395.15 of the FMCSRs provides
motor carriers the authority to use ``automatic on-board recording
devices'' to record their drivers' hours-of-service in lieu of
complying with the handwritten record of duty status requirements
of Sec. 395.8.

<snip>

Issued on: March 25, 1998.
Gloria J. Jeff,
Deputy Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-8882 Filed 4-3-98]

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[Federal Register: April 6, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 65)]
[Rules and Regulations]  [Page 16697-16699]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06ap98-15]