Transport Canada made a major announcement about mandating electronic logging devices (ELDs) in Canada last week – did you miss it?
ELDs Are Closer to Being Mandated in Canada
There’s been a lot of speculation about whether or not ELD use would be mandated in Canada following the publication of the U.S. ELD Mandate Final Rule by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) back in December 2015.
We’ve covered this topic a couple times on our blog already: Oh Canada, What’s Happening with ELDs and ELD: What It Means for Canadians. Information has been fairly vague as to what Canada is planning to do which has caused a lot of confusion amongst the industry.
On August 3, 2016, Transport Canada made an announcement that many people missed – they are officially proposing to amend the hours of service (HOS) regulations to mandate the use of ELDs by motor carriers and commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in Canada.
Next Steps
According to Transport Canada, they will be:
- Launching a consultation process in early 2017
- Initiating a 60-day comment period following the consultation process
- Publishing a final rule
The final rule will likely be published 1 – 2 years before the proposed mandate completion (as soon as spring 2017). As outlined in our other blog posts, Canada has continuously noted that they are hoping to align the Canadian ELD Mandate with the U.S. ELD Mandate – which makes a lot of sense given the large amount of cross-border drivers.
The U.S. ELD Mandate has set the following compliance dates for drivers in the U.S. to transition to an ELD:
- December 18, 2017 – If you’re currently using paper logs or an electronic logbook
- December 16, 2019 – If you’re currently using a 395.15-compliant Automatic Onboard Recording Device (AOBRD)
The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) released a draft ELD technical standard document on July 12, 2016. This document is now under a 2 month consultative period.
Be Proactive – Start Researching Your Options
If Canada does follow the U.S. ELD Mandate timeline, that doesn’t give Canadians a lot of time to figure out what they’re doing. U.S. drivers have been looking at their options since last December and many have already made the switch to ELDs!
We’re advising Canadians to be proactive by starting to research and evaluate available ELDs today. A few things you can do to get yourself on the path to compliance include:
- Brush up on the U.S. ELD Mandate as the Canadian Mandate will likely be similar
- Determine what your needs are in terms of an ELD and an ELD provider
- Research and evaluate ELD devices and providers that are currently available
- Attend product demonstrations to see the ELDs in action
- Talk to other drivers and see what they’re using, likes, and dislikes
- Develop a transition and training plan to see how much time (and money) you’ll need to successfully rollout the new technology
BigRoad’s Got Your Back
When it comes to ELD Mandate compliance, BigRoad’s got your back! Setup a demo with us to see our ELD-ready DashLink in action and experience how easy ELD mandate compliance can be with us.
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