FMCSA Proposes New 'Supporting Documents' Rule For HOS Compliance
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to clarify its policies on how trucking companies prove that drivers are in compliance with the hours of service rules.
The agency aims to clear up ambiguities that have grown up around the verification process by spelling out what "supporting documents" may be used. It also wants to explicitly require companies to have a system for tracking and verifying the accuracy of the time, location and mileage information a driver records in his log each working day.
Right now, the rules simply state that companies must keep supporting documents. Industry practice has evolved unevenly out of this requirement. Some companies have built detailed verification systems, but there has been confusion and conflict between some companies and federal officials over what constitutes a "supporting document" and how it is to be managed.
This is a supplemental proposed rule, amending an earlier proposal that was issued in 1998. At the heart of this proposal is the requirement that each company be responsible for establishing and using a system to verify logs and driver hours. Companies may use either paper or electronic "supporting documents" but in any event must be able to verify the accuracy of such log information as time on duty, driving, sleeper berth, off-duty, end of shift, total hours on duty and mileage.
Most companies already produce documents that can be used to verify a driver's time and place, and mileage, the agency said in its proposal. Other supporting documents, such as dispatch records, bills of lading, call-in reports, invoices, toll receipts and transponder records also are available.
The proposed rule states that it is the company's responsibility to determine which documents are available to it and the driver, and which could be used to verify logs and hours of service. The company also must collect, use and retain the documents for six months.
In another key requirement, the agency proposes to clarify that the "supporting document" requirement applies to all drivers, whether they are employees, owner-operators or leased drivers. In the proposal, the agency says that companies are required to retain all "supporting documents" that all drivers - including independent contractors - receive during a trip.
Under other provisions of the proposal:
• Companies would have to immediately produce documents that it maintains at its principal places of business. The agency said it has had problems with companies stalling investigators by claiming that they have 48 hours to produce the documents. The 48-hour window would apply only at regional offices or driver reporting locations.
• The agency would make it official that companies may use automated, electronic or laser technology to store records, provided the company can produce a verifiable, accurate copy.
• The agency would levy civil and criminal penalties for violations such as failure to prevent a driver from falsifying his log or supporting documents, failure to prevent a driver from exceeding his hours, or failure to have an effective monitoring system.
The proposal was published in the Nov. 3 Federal Register. Comments are due by Jan. 3. For details, contact Jerry Fulnecky at FMCSA, (202) 366-4553.
—By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor
Washington Report continued...
