Hours-of-service proposal includes reset provision, 48-hour averaging

OTTAWA (Oct. 26, 1999) — A proposed new federal hours-of-service standard for truck drivers in Canada includes a maximum 14-hour workday and a cap of 70 hours in any week that can be “reset” after 36 hours off duty, NewsFIRST has learned.

The proposed guidelines, a revision of National Safety Code Standard 9, are contained in discussion papers for a committee of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators. The committee is to meet in Halifax on Nov. 8 and 9.

The proposal, designed to give drivers more opportunity to rest, would cut maximum daily limits by one hour and reduce cumulative hours from 104 to 84 over a seven-day period. If approved, federal and provincial regulations based on the standard could be drafted in the summer or fall of next year, possibly coming into force in 2001.

New daily limits would cap working time at 14 hours and increase mandatory off-duty time to 10 hours. The key here is that 14 plus 10 equals 24 hours: research has shown that work rules should fit into the 24-hour clock if fatigue is to be minimized. The proposed rules do not distinguish between “on duty” and “driving” — they simply limit the total work day to 14 hours.

Current regulations allow 15 hours on duty or 13 hours driving, followed by a minimum of eight hours off duty. This adds up to 23, and drivers on long trips find themselves starting work earlier and earlier on each successive day.

To address cumulative limits and give drivers more opportunity to rest, the proposal includes two planks that the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the industryÕs largest lobby group, pushed hard for: a “reset” provision, and the ability to average daily on-duty and off-duty time over a 48-hour period, with a requirement that the driver be off duty for at least 20 hours during that time.

The reset rule would allow a driver to refresh his weekly schedule. The weekly cap of 70 on-duty hours in any week could be reset after 36-hour off-duty; the 120-hour/14-day cap could be reset following 72 hours off duty. The reset rule would allow drivers to work no more than 84 hours in a seven-day periodÑfive 14-hour days, then 36 hours off, followed by another 14-hour day.

The 48-hour averaging proposal would require one block of at least eight hours continuous off-duty time in each 24-hour period, with the balance to be up in any combination of half-hour increments. Similarly, a driver would not be allowed to work more than 28 hours in any 48-hour period. Not counting extended shifts due to unforeseen delays (bad weather, traffic congestion, etc.), no single shift could exceed 14 hours.

The idea is to allow more flexibility for drivers to rest when they feel tired — not when the clock and their logbook demands it.