Attitudes of Truck Drivers and Carriers on the Use of Electronic Logging Devices and Driver Harassment

Goal           

To broadly examine the issue of driver harassment and to determine the extent to which hours-of-service (HOS) monitoring devices (MDs) are used to either harass drivers and/or monitor driver productivity. The research must explore the relevant issues from the perspective of both drivers and carriers. Based on the research findings, the second objective is to outline a set of countermeasures or best practices that will ensure that HOS-MDs are not used by carriers for driver harassment.

Background

On August 26, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the Agency’s April 2010 Final Rule on the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs). The Court stated that contrary to statutory requirements, the Agency failed to address the issue of driver harassment, including how ELDs could potentially be used to harass drivers and addressing ways to ensure that ELDs were not used to harass drivers.

Summary

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was conducting a survey to broadly examine the issue of driver harassment and to determine the extent to which HOS MDs were used to either harass drivers and/or monitor driver productivity. The research explored the relevant issues from the perspective of both drivers and carriers. Based on the research findings, the second objective was to outline a set of countermeasures or best practices that would ensure that HOS-MDs were not used by carriers for driver harassment. The Office of Management and Budget Control Number for the survey project was 2126-0055. The data collection among drivers and carriers was conducted by MaineWay Services and Abt SRBI.

The intercept survey of drivers at a sample of truck stops across the country was scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2014.  The carrier mail-out survey was sent to approximately 4,000 carriers beginning in May 2014 and was scheduled for completion by June 30, 2014. The carrier survey was managed by Abt SRBI and used the opinionport web-based survey function.

Outcomes

The output will be a report identifying the nature of the problem of driver harassment with the use of HOS-MDs in the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry. This study will also identify any policy changes that could be used to mitigate the harassment issue.

Milestones

Funding

$400,000    

Status

The final report was published and can be accessed at https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/192

Contractor

MaineWay Services