Key Provisions Of EOBR Performance Standards
Here are other key provisions of the proposed performance standard:
• The recorder system must be able to identify the driver. The agency does not say specifically how to achieve that because it wants carriers to be able to use identification systems they already have. Among the possibilities are data entry systems such as personal identification numbers, user IDs and passwords, as well as smart cards with identifying information and biometric information such as fingerprints.
The agency also wants the rule to accommodate ID systems that are still being developed, such as the Transportation Workers Identity Credential. And, the recorder will have to display the driver's name or employee ID number on all records associated with the driver.
• The system has to be designed in a way that prevents tampering or manipulation. Since there are many ways to achieve this, the agency does not specify how it is to be accomplished – only that it "must be tamper resistant to the maximum extent practicable."
• The system will have to perform a power-on self test on demand. It will have to show whether or not it is working with a visible or audible signal – and provide a warning to the driver if it stops working. It also will have to explain, perhaps through a code, why and when it stopped working.
In the event that a recorder fails, the driver will have to be prepared to switch to a paper log. If the carrier is one of those that are required to use recorders, it will have to repair or replace broken recorder within 14 days.
• The agency wants to continue the current practice of allowing recorder manufacturers be the ones who certify that the device meets specifications.
• Under the proposal, drivers will be permitted to amend the non-driving portion of their daily record immediately before and after a trip or a working day. "This would provide operational flexibility to drivers to correct duty status errors arising because the driver forgot to log out of the system," the agency said.
In a related requirement, the recorder will have to maintain "parallel streams" of original and modified data entries. This would allow inspectors to see original records as well as revisions – and who revised the data.
• The agency will not require the recorder to transmit location information to a tracking system operated by the carrier or a third party.
• The device will have to produce a driver's hours of service chart in two ways: a graph-grid format, electronic or printed, and digitally in a flat file using a specified format. The flat file option would allow the use of smaller and less expensive electronic displays, and would allow the data to be transferred to a safety official's laptop computer or PDA.
To allay enforcement officials' concerns about having to enter the truck cab, the agency says recorders must be able to make the information portable. Possibilities include: wireless communications; copying the data to a portable device, such as a thumb drive that the inspector can plug into his laptop; or – simplest of all – a portable recorder that the driver can just hand over.
Addressing concerns about the security of proprietary information, the agency said it will not require disclosure of driver data, and will require a certain level of encryption for wireless transfers between recorders and roadside enforcement computers.
