While long speculated that Canada’s commercial driving industry would follow in the footsteps of the electronic logbook (ELD) mandate which came into force in December of 2017 in the United States, Canadian company owners and drivers now know the date in which they’ll be required to comply with a similar law – June 12, 2021. The official announcement came from the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, on June 13, 2019, outside the Canadian Trucking Alliance in Etobicoke, Ontario.
The official announcement comes after the regulatory proposal was first published in Canada Gazette, Part 1 in December of 2017, and follows recommendations from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service in relation to the tragic collision between a tractor trailer and the team coach bus of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team in April of 2018.
Commercial driver fatigue has been a long-standing road safety issue and the paper-based daily logbooks drivers have been required to maintain allows for tampering of hours of service, putting drivers, their employers, and the general public at risk. The new ELD mandate’s goal is to ensure that commercial drivers are complying with the Government of Canada’s Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulation, with the use of tamper-resistant devices that are integrated into commercial vehicle engines.
ELDs approved for the regulation will be approved by a third-party certification process to ensure that the devices are accurate and reliable. Additionally, the transition to ELDs means Canadian commercial truckers will be aligned with the United States road safety regulations, if not already, and will support economic growth, trade and transportation on both sides of the border.
If you’re in the commercial trucking industry in Canada and are looking for an ELD provider, contact us to learn how we can help you find efficiencies, comply with the coming regulation, save money, and increase safety for your drivers.
