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Looking Forward
by Marco Beghetto
Trucking wouldn't be trucking without issues, and this year offers a bumper crop. Some of them will affect you quite a lot, some less so. But forewarned is forearmed, right? So here's what's on the horizon:  Will 2010 be the year MTO ends its discriminatory age-based retest rule? #1: Electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) are coming. At last check, U.S. regulators were still working on a rule that would require EOBRs in some way. The original proposal in late 2008 lacked teeth, however, so most observers think whatever we see on paper later this year will likely include all commercial trucks rather than just the 'worst offenders.' Canada too is pressing on with its own EOBR rule and regulators just finished mapping out a 'project charter' that will provide the basis for a homemade National Safety Code standard. #2: The U.S. DOT will introduce a brand new way of monitoring carrier and driver safety performance, and the new Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA 2010) system kicks in this July. Carriers and drivers will be graded more stringently than ever before - on a monthly basis - based mainly on data collected at roadside inspections, including (but not limited to) unsafe driving, fatigue, driver fitness, cargo securement and maintenance. In all, there are nearly 3600 different truck violations. The more infractions, the more frequently drivers and their trucks will be inspected, and the more inspections, the more likely DOT inspectors will find infractions. #3: The only constant with fuel prices these days is their volatility. The U.S. economy is no longer in a freefall, but it's still slumbering, meaning that the massive stockpiles of distillate fuel racked up last summer are taking longer to get through. Hence, the lower-than-usual diesel prices throughout the higher-demand winter season. But that inventory is on pace to level off at the brink of real economic recovery, making visits to the pump something worth complaining about once again. #4: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is quickly becoming the most scrutinized fatigue-related issue in the industry. U.S. regulators are working on a screening rule and when that happens, we'll have to come up with a made-in-Canada solution that passes muster with the Americans. Treatment for serious OSA comes mainly in the form of 'CPAP' machines, which are effective but existing models are bulky and uncomfortable for some people. Drivers with OSA will undoubtedly have a lot of questions and regulators should spend the year crafting a reasonable answer. #5: Despite the efforts of a handful of truckers to stop it, mandatory speed limiter laws are a reality in Quebec and Ontario. At least one other province (New Brunswick) is working on a similar rule and lobbyists in B.C. are starting to make noise about wanting that province to follow suit. #6: Since they came into effect in 2004, U.S. hours-of-service rules have been as stable as that mattress tied to the roof of the Toyota Tercel sputtering along in front of you. As you probably know by now, the U.S. DOT was so impressed with year-over-year trucking safety improvements that it decided it would scrap the five-year-old HOS standard that arguably helped make those improvements possible. You'll see the details of the revision in July, quite possibly minus the 11-hour driving platform and 34-hour restart provision. #7: If you're a cross-border trucker who gets the majority of your hauls paid in U.S. dollars, but whose expenses are of the loonie variety, the worth of your dough is not nearly as much as this time last year. Teasing parity to close out '09, the loonie is forecast to hover just below the dollar mark for the short term. But as long as the price of oil and other commodities continue to increase and the USD weakens, it's not unthinkable that the loonie could move past parity by the summer, keeping a lid on any significant export-based rally. #8: Since 9-11, crossing the border has been about as much fun as crawling under your trailer to measure a brake's pushrod on a January morning. Weak cross-border volume has shortened queues a great deal, but countless draconian security protocols persist. And don't expect relief in 2010. In December, the U.S. Government Accountability Office gave Customs a failing grade for its weak attempt to meet a Congressional requirement that 100% of U.S.-bound cargo containers be scanned by 2012. Meanwhile, abuse by a few smugglers of the C-TPAT-FAST system has some officials calling for tighter controls on that front as well.  Customs remains under pressure from Homeland Security to improve container-trailer scanning. #9: B.C. and Manitoba implemented mandatory biodiesel rules for this year that are still bio-debatable. The laws require fuel suppliers to produce "pool averages" of B5 and B2 blends respectively. What that means is the actual blend at the pump is left free to vary based on customer demand. So, some customers with buying power can demand zero biodiesel content, leaving the supplier no choice but to send the higher blends to other regions. Meanwhile, we've heard that a proposed national B2 mandate for Canada has been put on ice until some of these issues are ironed out. #10: A little Ontario-centric, we're aware, but with the driver shortage likely to become an issue once again, it's inexplicable that Ontario remains the only jurisdiction in the world, as far as we're aware, to require truck drivers over 65 to take annual road tests based on nothing but their age. The government softened the burden last fall by allowing those drivers to retest with auto trannies, but groups like OBAC and OTA want the rule scrapped entirely. MTO officials admit behind closed doors that the policy is faulty (legally discriminatory too, we'd guess) so hopefully the new Transport Minister Kathleen Wynne does the right thing.
Two seminars at the upcoming Truck World 2010 show in Toronto will help you get a better fix on some of these issues. On Friday, April 16 at 10:00 a.m., a panel session called 'Sleep Issues: the Coming Regulatory Regime' will look at how drivers will soon be tested for sleep disorders in much the same way they're now tested for drug and alcohol abuse. Among the presenters will be Ken Armstrong, a driver for Swift Transportation in the U.S. who's been through the process of identifying a sleep apnea problem and dealing with it successfully. As well, on Saturday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. Jim Park will make a presentation we're calling 'The Road Ahead: Not Your Grandfather's Driving Job'. He'll look at how the driver's role is changing, from regulation to technology. For more information, see www.truckworld.ca.
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