There are appropriate times to be asleep on the road. Doing so while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle is not one of them. Sadly, fatigued drivers are an issue for all of us. Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, in both the US and Canada, are designed specifically to prevent drivers from staying behind the wheel too long and becoming fatigued. Or even worse, falling asleep while driving a huge rig down the highway.

HOS  regulations are only as good as the enforcement of the HOS rules. In the US, the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability system of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is designed specifically to enforce HOS and other rules impacting the safety of our highways.

The CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) measures specific aspects of vehicle and driver safety using a set of BASIC measures. Each BASIC category is designed to look at specific aspects of driver performance to create fair scores that can be compared across all carriers and drivers. In order to enforce HOS regulations, CSA Basic Fatigue measures compliance with HOS rules and fatigued driving. Quoting from the CSA Fatigued Driving BASIC Assessment:

“This BASIC includes violations of regulations surrounding the complete and accurate recording of logbooks as they relate to HOS requirements and the management of CMV driver fatigue.”

Is there a way to improve your CSA scores and ensure that you stay in compliance with HOS rules and CSA? The good news is that Electronic On Board Recorder (EOBR) provides a solution that automates the recording of HOS. Rather than rely on error-prone and time-consuming manual log books, EOBR solutions automatically record HOS. A solution like our Quadrant In-Cab makes it easy to login at the start of a shift. After that, everything is automatic and when the driver is near the end of a duty cycle our Quadrant In-Cab solution warns the driver. For managers, they gain complete visibility in Quadrant Manager of the HOS status, duty cycle, and remaining time for every driver.

We all want our roads to be safer. Top performing organizations want the best CSA scores possible. EOBR solutions are part of making top CSA scores a reality. Not only is the reputation of your organization and your drivers on the line—none of us wants to hear about a driver who fell asleep at the wheel.