Canadian truck group expects ELD mandate by spring 2019

As truckers in the United States brace for a mandate on electronic logging devices, a Canadian trucking group predicts Canada will have its own mandate sooner than later.

Speaking at a seminar last week in Milton, Ontario, Mike Millian, the president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, gave an update on the Canadian ELD situation. The event was reported by Canadian publication Truck News.

Millian reportedly told the crowd that Canada is still waiting for an ELD mandate to officially be set in motion, and that a planned meeting between officials with Treasury Board and Transport Canada had been pushed back from October to December. Based on the delay, he said he believes the earliest Canada could see its own form of a mandate is spring 2019.

Millian reportedly expressed frustration with the U.S. rule, which allows device manufacturers to self-certify their own compliance with the mandate, rather than relying on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or a third-party to ensure devices meet the standards of the regulation.

“The FMCSA is not certifying these devices,” he said. “I cannot stress that enough … just because they are on the FMCSA website on the list, doesn’t mean they are complaint … It’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard, but that’s what the government has decided … they take the manufacturers’ word for it.”

Some of the manufacturers even self-certified their devices before the FMCSA rules even came out, and Millian reportedly said Canada also may take a similar approach to self-certification.
Unfortunately, Canada looks like it also may be heading into the same self-certifying directions.

“Transport Canada has said it will not be certifying ELDs,” Millian told the group. “However, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators is looking for a body for certify ELDs in Canada.”

The frustration over the self-certification portion of the mandate is shared by U.S. trucking groups, including OOIDA.

“The self-certification of ELDs by manufacturers has been one of the most glaring flaws in FMCSA’s implementation process, but, let’s be honest, it’s also a stroke of evil genius on the agency’s part,” said Collin Long, OOIDA’s senior director of legislative affairs.

“When all the predictable problems with the mandate manifest in December, the agency can hide behind the self-certification process, deflecting any blame for not fully addressing the legitimate concerns of stakeholders themselves.”

The ELD mandate takes effect in the United States on Dec. 18. Cross-border truckers from Canada must have a registered ELD installed to log their hours-of-service while operating in the U.S.

Trucks with engines older than Year 2000 are exempt from the mandate. Trucks operating with an automatic on-board recording device (AOBRD) are grandfathered into the mandate until December 2019. The FMCSA maintains a list of registered ELDs here.