As it drafts a proposed rule on using electronic on-board recorders to assist with meeting hours-of-service regulations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued policy guidance to enforcement agencies for using electronic wireless communications and tracking records from motor carriers when ensuring compliance.

Dating back to Christmas Eve of 2008, FMCSA and state enforcement personnel can inspect and copy motor carrier records. Enforcement personnel have also been able to request GPS or other mobile electronic communication or tracking records as supporting documents that record time, date and location of vehicles and drivers. But confusion arose regarding FMCSA's use of the technologies in its HOS enforcement, as well as on the requirements for motor carriers to retain and produce records upon demand.

Upon publishing its final rule on EOBRs in April, FMCSA stated that it would be working on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to further advance motor carrier safety through improved HOS compliance. Namely, the NPRM will propose that "considerably more motor carriers and drivers" will be required to use EOBRs. The proposed rule will also seek to require motor carriers to develop and maintain "systematic and effective" oversight of its driver to ensure HOS compliance is met.

FMCSA added that the NPRM is expected by the end of this year, with a final rule published within 24 months.

Meanwhile, the new policy guidance, which is expected to go into effect by mid-July, does not change the way motor carriers ensure compliance with HOS regulations. Instead, the policy seeks to provide "less burdensome supporting documents" that motor carriers must retain and produce to enforcement officials, and it lays out the characteristics that electronic mobile communication and tracking records must have, namely positioning frequency, vehicle integration, report functionality, report content and retention.