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Not matter of if, but when EOBR becomes final rule, MCSAC chair says

WASHINGTON — The question surrounding the issuance of the final rule on electronic on-board recorders is turning out to be not if, but exactly when.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration initially set June 2012 as the deadline, but one of the agency’s own committees identified technical issues during meetings last week that could push the date deeper into 2012.

“There are a couple of issues that have arisen involving certification of manufacturers by a third party and getting advice and counsel from a number of sources on the issue of securely transmitting data to law enforcement authorities at the roadside,” David Parker, chairman of the FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC), said.

Those issues came up during Aug. 1-2 meetings of the MCSAC’s EOBR subcommittee.

And although the full committee will meet Aug. 29-31, it’s unlikely that the panel will be able to say whether or not June 2012 is a do-able date, Parker said.

“It may well take a couple of months to come up with a workable date, so we’re holding off on making any specific recommendations at that time,” he said.

Parker noted it was hard to identify all issues related to the implementation of a rulemaking until all involved stakeholders had met as a group.

“The issues that we are dealing with have a lot of complexity,” he said, “that couldn’t be identified until a lot of people with a lot of insight and experience got together and started talking.”

Implementing a rule correctly is most important, Parker said.

“What I do see is from the standpoint of all the folks that are in the room representing virtually every single aspect of implementation of an EOBR rule is a commitment and concern to get it done, but to get it done right,” he said. “Rather than racing ahead with just anything is not what the group wants. There is a resolve to get it right.”

According to the minutes of the Aug. 1-2 meeting, the EOBR subcommittee noted that clarification was needed on the functionality of communications standards as noted in FMCSA regulations.

As examples, the subcommittee identified:

An EOBR being able to wirelessly identify external networks and devices and securely connect to them to transmit HOS information Establishing a secure and reliable communications protocol that will allow data transmission in a timely manner, and Clarification of the methodologies and required interfaces and applications to securely and reliably transmit HOS data via telemetric applications services (TAS), USB, and 802.11.
“In determining the scope of this endeavor, it is essential that the subcommittee keep in mind the implementation date of June 2012 for the EOBR Final Rule and how we can successfully get EOBRs on the road and functioning by that date or as close to it as possible,” the subcommittee said in its minutes.

Lyndon Finney of The Trucker staff may be contacted to comment at [email protected] .

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