FMCSA releases final report on electronic hours-of-service recorders
Study shows semi-truck equipped with HOS recorders are significantly safer
The FMCSA has finally released a final report regarding electronic-hours-of-service recorders (EHSRs). The report confirms something that every attorney who works with the Truck Accident Attorneys Roundtable already knows: Trucks equipped with EHSRs have lower crash rates and hours of service (HOS) violations than the big-rig trucks that don’t use them.
The purpose of the study was to assess the benefits of installed EHSRS. There’s been a lot of push back from the trucking lobby to keep these devices off of trucks. As you may well be aware, the FMCSA changed the HOS regulations in 2013. This change has also been highly controversial, and has even been challenged in the courts.
From my own personal experience as an injury attorney who focuses on truck accidents, truck driver fatigue and hours of service violations are one of the most common causes of serious and preventable truck accidents.
The report’s conclusions were alarming yet reaffirming: It found that EHSR-equipped semi-trucks had a 53% fewer driving related HOS violations and a 49% lower non-driving-related HOS violation rate than trucks not equipped with EHSRs.
To directly quote the report, “[t]he results show a clear safety benefit, in terms of crash and HOS violation reductions, for trucks equipped with EHSRs.”
You can find the full report here “Evaluating the Potential Safety Benefits of Electronic Hours of Service Recorders.”
As an attorney and safety advocate, I’m thrilled this report has been published. These results indicate that there are huge safety and compliance benefits of EHSRs. My only hope is that the FMCSA mandates the use of these devices. It will save a lot of lives, and prevent a lot of accidents.
