Transport Canada agrees to ’16-hour window’ HOS review

OTTAWA, (March 11, 2004) — While Transport Canada and the provincial governments are unanimous in implementing the “16-hour window” as part of the upcoming Canadian hours of service rules, it appears the Canadian Trucking Alliance has won its bid to include a mandatory review of the provision one year after it comes into effect.

After meetings with regulators and federal Transport Minister Tony Valeri this week, the CTA says the government has met the association’s concerns by agreeing to include a review to determine whether there are negative safety and economic consequences with the rule a year after implementation.

Although the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators still supports the provision, it stated in a letter to the CTA that it agrees with the one-year review the CTA was lobbying for.

The fixed window measure requires a truck driver to complete all his driving time within 16 hours of coming on duty. CTA has argued that such a measure would discourage naps and rest breaks and would negatively impact a driver’s productivity, as it would penalize drivers for taking more than the prescribed 2 hours of “supplemental” off-duty time in addition to the required 8-hour core rest.

CTA CEO David Bradley said that with drivers constantly facing delays and waiting times, the issue came down to how many hours a driver needs in order to complete his 13 hour shift. A driver could use at least some of these delays to take a rest if driving time wasn’t subsequently reduced — but with the 16-hour window provision, drivers will feel additional pressure not to stop for rest in order to make sure they get their driving hours in, Bradley said.

Bradley also cited “regulatory fatigue” — the ongoing process of amending the regulations — as the likely reason why governments proceeded with the window provision.

“As we have seen so often, this issue is never over ’til its over, so there is always a chance that some provinces will come to the realization that the 16-hour window is problematic and may reconsider their support for it,” he said. “But we could not count on that. A commitment by governments to review the matter suggests that we were able to at least raise sufficient concern for the issue not be closed.”