Canada is going to implement Electronic Logging Devices’ (ELD’s).
A spokesperson for Transport Canada, Natalie Gauthier; confirmed over the weekend to Transport Canada is moving in this direction. it was indicated that transport Canada would follow similar hardware and software to the US. The actual rules for the hours of service will remain “Canadian” but the hardware and software will be very similar to the US. This will save Canadian trucking companies substantial amount of money as opposed to having something totally different than the US.
This is big news for Canada from a safety and compliance point of view. Here in Ontario, Stephen Del Duca in the past has expressed support for electronic locking devices. So even though transport Canada can only dictate what happens with interprovincial trucking companies, the support of the province of Ontario would indicate that in truck provincial trucking companies would also likely have to follow new rules for electronic lighting devices here in Ontario.
CTA (Canadian trucking Association) supports the use of ELD’s. Many trucking companies have Artie started moving and implementing electronic lighting devices.
In the United States all interprovincial trucking companies will have to have an ELD device by December 2017. Transport Canada indicated their timeline was something similar.
This is a huge step forward in modernization for the Canadian trucking industry. I know that some truck drivers may be opposed to the new monitoring systems. I do believe the largest impact will be on the shipping community. The shippers will have to get used to the fact that drivers will no longer make up for a shipper’s incompetence. Shippers will have to adhere to the timelines that they (shippers) dictate. In other words when a shipper says your appointment is at 9 AM, they must be in the position to receive trucking company and the load, get the truck offloaded and the driver on his way, in an efficient timeframe. Drivers will no longer be able to adjust their logs and cheat on behalf of the shipper.