TOMORROW, Sen. Lautenberg is planning on introducing an amendment to Senate Bill 554 that will mandate the use of EOBRs (electronic on-board recorders) in all commercial vehicles, not just buses. While enhanced safety for all vehicles should be our aim, using expensive GPS tracking devices is expensive for small business owners and can jeopardize the safety of drivers carrying sensitive cargo by exposing their whereabouts to would-be hackers and hijackers.
I learned today that SB 554, Motor Coach Enhanced Safety Act of 2009, will have some movement tomorrow in the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. I understand why this is important. Recently, there have been some horrible and totally avoidable bus crashes.
Tomorrow, Senator Lautenberg is planning on introducing an amendment to the bill that will mandate the use of EOBRs (electronic on-board recorders) in all commercial vehicles, not just buses. I have several concerns with this.
Many of the bus crashes that have happened recently would not have been prevented by an EOBR. A significant reason some of the worst accidents have happened, and this goes for both buses and trucks, is companies that are put out of business with our current laws then re-open under a new name. They continue to use the same deficient equipment under the new name. This has happened many times. There are already rules in place to prevent this but not adequate staff to ensure it does not happen. EOBRs will not fix this problem.
The motor coach industry and trucking industries are substantially different. While motor coach operators know when their buses will be leaving and arriving well ahead of time and can schedule accordingly, truck drivers are at the mercy of those loading and unloading their truck. Detention time is an extremely serious issue that leads to fatigue. Detention of drivers is the core issue/problem. It should be taken on first to bring about positive change. The burden should be placed on the shippers and receivers that needlessly detain drivers. If this was the focus, every single truck driver would be in full support of the legislation.
The amendment will mandate GPS based tracking. There are security issues with this for drivers that haul sensitive loads such as military, hazmat, drugs, et cetera. There have been way too many examples of hackers gaining information to allow that to happen to high risk loads. It would put the loads and the drivers at extreme risk if they could be tracked. Additionally, the cost of these units and the continuing service fees for GPS tracking are a very substantial burden on small business owners and the hundreds of thousands of owner operators trying to make a living.
Please contact your Senator TODAY and ask him or her to stand up for small business owners by making sure that this misguided amendment does not become part of SB 554. With effective enforcement of current laws and regulations, we can make our roads safer.