Regulatory Impact Analysis

View a PDF of this document on Issuu by clicking here. Jump to the Table of Contents.

Electronic On-Board Recorders and Hours-of-Service Supporting Documents

Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation

 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Unfunded Mandates Analysis

January 24, 2011

Prepared by Analysis Division Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration The agency proposing the EOBR rule U.S. Department of Transportation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 Background

1.1    Agency Mission

1.2   Description of Proposed Rule

1.3   Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review)

1.4   Policy Options Considered

1.5 Baselines for Analysis

1.6 Implementation of Proposed Rule

2 Overview of Motor Carrier Industry

2.1 Regulated Motor Carriers

2.2 Current AOBRD/EOBR and FMS fleet management system Use

3 EOBR Device Costs

3.1 New EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Costs

3.2 EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Monitoring on Current FMS

3.3 Training Costs

3.4 Annualized Estimates of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Costs

4 Baseline for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits

4.1 Overview of Analysis

4.2 Baseline for Compliance Costs

4.3 Baseline for Safety Benefits

4.4 EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Effectiveness

4.5 Attainable Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits

4.6 Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits per EOBR

5 Paperwork Savings

5.1 Summary of Paperwork Savings

5.2 Labor Costs

5.3 Driver Time Savings

5.4 Clerical Time Savings

5.5 Paper Cost Savings

6 Results of Analysis

6.1 Results for All Options

6.2 Alternative Implementation Schedule, Results for All Options

7 Summary of Results and Comparison of Options 8 Sensitivity Analyses

8.1 Faster Rate of Voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Adoption

8.2 Other Agency Actions Improving Enforcement

8.3 Alternate Values of Statistical Life

9 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Description of Reasons for Action by the Agency.

9.3 Objectives and Legal Basis.

9.4 Small Entities Affected.

9.5 Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements.

9.6 Federal Rules that May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict with the Rule

9.7 Steps to Minimize Adverse Economic Impacts on Small Entities

10 Unfunded Mandates Reform Analysis

Appendix A Derivation of Carrier, Driver, and CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles Counts

Appendix B Forecasts of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system Use

Appendix C Improvements in HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Compliance

Appendix D Improvements in CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles Safety

Appendix E EOBR Effectiveness

Appendix F Price and Availability of EOBRs

Appendix G Evaluation of Five-Year Implementation Schedule

G.1 Derivation of Option 1 Costs and Benefits, Five-Year Implementation

G.2 Derivation of Option 2 Costs and Benefits, Five-Year Implementation

G.3 Derivation of Option 3 Costs and Benefits, Five-Year Implementation

Appendix H Derivation of Cost and Benefits in the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Analyses

H.1 Basis for 2003 Rule and Derivation of Pre-2003 Status Quo

H.1.1 Survey Data Used in Status Quo

H.1.2 Driver Schedule Simulation Methods and Results

H.1.3 Rolling Work and Sleep Schedules

H.1.3.1 Dispatching Simulation

H.1.3.2 Results of Rolling Work and Sleep Schedule Analysis

H.2 Compliance Costs 79

H.2.1 Labor Cost Changes 80

H.2.1.1 Estimate of Driver Wage Function 80

H.2.1.1.1 Data, Methodology, and Results 80

H.2.1.2 Supply of Drivers 84

H.2.1.2.1 Previous Studies 84

H.2.1.2.2 Evidence from Industry Data 85

H.2.1.2.3 The Pool of Available Truck Drivers 86

H.2.1.2.4 Turnover and its Impact on Driver Labor 88

H.2.1.3 Summary of Labor Cost Assumptions 89

H.2.2 Non-Wage Costs 90

H.2.2.1 Trucking Equipment 90

H.2.2.2 Parking Space Construction and Maintenance 93

H.2.2.3 Insurance 95

H.2.2.4 Maintenance 96

H.2.2.5 Recruitment 96

H.3 Safety Benefits 97

H.3.1 Background on Driver Fatigue, Sleep and Truck-Involved Accidents 97

H.3.1.1 The Function and Physiology of Sleep 98

H.3.1.1.1 The Stages of Sleep 98

H.3.1.1.2 Physiology of Sleep 99

H.3.1.2 Significance of the Timing of Sleep 100

H.3.1.3 Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Debt and Impact on Performance 101

H.3.1.4 Fatigue and Work 102

H.3.1.5 Fatigue and Truck-Involved Crashes 104

H.3.1.6 Conclusion 108

H.3.2 Estimates of Motor Carrier Crashes Due to Fatigue 108

H.3.2.1 Data and Approach to Crash Analyses 108

H.3.2.1.1 Historical Crash Data Summary 110

H.3.2.1.2 MCMIS Data Analysis 111

H.3.2.1.3 FARS Fatality Analysis Reporting System (a database created by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency to track national data on fatal car crashes) Data Analysis 112

H.3.2.2 Estimates of Crashes by Large Truck Firm Operations Type 116

H.3.3 Sleep Models 119

H.3.3.1 Variation among Models 120

H.3.3.2 Walter Reed Sleep Performance Model 121

H.3.3.3 Psychomotor Vigilance Task 123

H.3.3.3.1 Model Calibration 124

H.3.3.3.2 Inputs 125

H.3.3.3.3 Sleep/Wake History 125

H.3.3.3.4 Time of Day (Circadian Phase) 125

H.3.3.3.5 Output 126

H.3.3.3.6 Model Limitations 126

H.3.4 Estimating Sleep Profiles 126

H.3.5 Estimating Change in SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers Crashes using Model Schedules 128

H.3.6 LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers Schedule Models 130

H.3.6.1 Spreadsheet LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers Crash Increment Calculations 130

H.3.6.2 Weighting Crash Increments, Productivity and Proportion Fatigue-Related 131

H.3.6.3 Calibration of SP Results to Empirical Fatigue Crash Estimates 132

H.3.7 Risks Associated with New Drivers 134

H.3.8 Value of Crash Reductions 137

H.4 Results of 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Analysis 138

H.5 Changes to Cost and Benefit Calculations from the 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA 140

H.5.1 Work Patterns 140

H.5.1.1 Data Sources 141

H.5.1.1.1 Schneider 141

H.5.1.1.2 OOIDA 141

H.5.1.1.3 Burks 141

H.5.1.1.4 FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) Field Survey 142

H.5.1.2 Average Hours Per Day—On-Duty and Driving 142

H.5.1.3 Average Hours and Days of Work Per Week 143

H.5.1.4 Intensity of Effort 143

H.5.2 Use of New Provisions of the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule 146

H.5.2.1 Restarts 146

H.5.2.2 Split Sleeper Berths 147

H.5.2.3 The 11th Hour 148

H.5.3 Carrier Operation Simulations 149

H.5.4 LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers Safety Benefits 151

H.5.4.1 Off-duty Sleep Time Assignment 153

H.5.4.2 Importance of Regularity in Driver Schedules 154

H.5.4.3 Driver Effectiveness – Split v. Continuous Sleeper Berth Periods 155

H.5.4.4 Estimate of Raw Crash Increment 156

H.5.4.5 Estimate Actual Fatigue-Related Crash Risk. 157

H.5.4.6 Crash Risk Results 158

H.5.5 LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers Compliance Costs 158

H.5.5.1 Core Cost Components 159

H.5.5.2 Training Costs for New HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rules 161

H.5.5.3 Total Costs of the 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes 161

Index of Tables and Charts

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIARegulatory Impact Analysis) or regulatory evaluation provides an assessment of the costs and benefits of requiring motor carriers to use electronic on-board recorders (EOBRsElectronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road)) to track driving and duty time. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration The agency proposing the EOBR rule (FMCSA or the Agency) is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMNotice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule) that this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis accompanies to improve compliance with the Hours of Service (HOSHours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive)) regulations for (49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations Part 395) commercial motor vehicle Any vehicle owned or used by a business (CMVCommercial Motor Vechicles) drivers. EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) track driving time and other activities electronically, providing largely the same information currently collected on paper records of duty status (RODSRecord of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period)) .

A Final Rule on EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance (EOBR I) was published on April 5, 2010, 75 FR 17207,1 providing the technical requirements for EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and mandating their installation and use for a period of two years on all power units of carriers with recurrent HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance problems, those found in a compliance review to have a 10 percent or greater violation rate (pattern violation) for any regulation in Appendix C to 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations Part 385 (“1X10 Remedial Directive Carriers”).2 FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) determined that an approach designed to target only HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violators would (1) be most likely to improve the safety of the motoring public on the highways in the near term, and (2) effectively utilize motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees and Federal and State enforcement resources.

FMCSA proposes to expand the requirement for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use to a larger number of motor carriers and to require these devices to be permanently installed and utilized for tracking of drivers’ HOS. This RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis examines three options for the broader EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate that differ solely on the number of carriers, drivers, and power units affected. Whereas the 1X10 Remedial Directive targeted a relatively small number of carriers, approximately 5,700 firms with 139,000 CMVs, this second EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule could potentially affect the entire motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees industry subject to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules, about 500,000 carriers with 4 million CMVs. The Agency proposes to implement the rule three years after the publication of a final rule; this accounts for the time needed for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) vendors to produce adequate numbers of the devices.

The Agency gathered cost information from publicly available marketing materials and contact with EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) vendors. The analysis for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I focused on the least expensive device determined to be compliant with the rule.3 The Agency has chosen to base its calculations on a higher cost device in this RIA. The manufacturer of the devices used as the basis for the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I is relatively small, and, although the Agency believed that a sufficient number of units for 1×10 remedial directive carriers would be available at this price from this vendor or its competitors, it did not find evidence indicating that a sufficient number of—the Agency estimates that about 2 million will be needed—these least cost units are available for a broad industry mandate. The Agency also has not found any compelling evidence or economic arguments that market forces would cause EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) device prices to fall. The performance standards for EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) require manufacturers to use mature, off-the-shelf technology currently implemented in fleet A group of motor vehicles owned or leased by businesses or government agencies management systems (FMSfleet management system) already sold in a large, competitive market. EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) functionality will likely be added to these devices. The Agency is receptive to comments on its analysis of the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system market.

FMCSA uses a higher cost device such as the one discussed in Appendix B (Alternative Estimates of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Device Costs) of the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I RIA.4 Although the manufacturer produces more expensive devices than the one evaluated in the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I RIA, the higher costs of its products reflects additional functions and features unrelated to the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) tracking feature. The Agency believes the unit considered in this analysis represents a reasonable upper limit for costs. After amortizing purchase and repair costs over time and evaluating monthly operational costs, the per-unit device costs would be slightly higher than those presented in the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I RIA, but the Agency still believes that these costs are not overly burdensome to motor carriers. The Agency has found the range of device costs to be narrow: Annualized costs for the low cost device were estimated to be $525, and annualized costs for the high cost device were estimated to be $785. -Appendix F of this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis contains a more detailed discussion of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) device costs. Moreover, EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) would eliminate or significantly simplify several of the paperwork processes associated with paper RODS, and the monetized paperwork burden reduction offsets most of the device costs for motor carriers and their drivers currently using paper RODS. Appendix F of this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis contains additional discussion of the availability and prices of EOBRs.

This analysis also evaluates the costs and benefits of motor carriers’ improved compliance with the underlying HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules through the use of EOBRs. The Agency has updated its assessment of the baseline level of non-compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules to account for changes in factors such as inflation, a decline in HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations that preceded the mandate for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use, and the decline in CMV-related crashes. Included in this analysis as alternative baselines are options from the recently published NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule for the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules for property carriers. (Option 1 of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule is to retain the current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules) [75 FR 82170 (Dec.29, 2010)]). The major changes for both HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) options is to allow at most 13 hours of on-duty time within the daily driving window; limit continuous on-duty drive time to seven hours, at which point a thirty-minute off-duty or sleeper-berth period would be required; and to require at least two overnight periods per 34-hour restart. HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 2, however, also reduces daily drive time from 11 to 10 hours, while HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 3 retains 11 hours of drive time. To avoid confusion between the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) options and the options for the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) NPRM, HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 2 and HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 3 are referred to as Baseline 2 and Baseline 3.

As stated, the Agency is currently considering three options for the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate. Option 1 would be to require EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) for all drivers currently using paper RODS. Option 2 (often referred to as “RODS+” in this RIA) expands Option 1 to include nearly all passenger-carrying CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and all shipments of bulk quantities of hazardous materials, regardless of whether the drivers use paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) or are exempted from doing so as described under the “short-haul operations” provisions in 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations 395.1(e). The Agency believes that the higher potential for injuries and fatalities in crashes involving passenger-carrying CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and shipments of bulk hazardous materials could warrant additional safety requirements for these operations. Option 3 would include all CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles operations subject to HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) requirements.

The NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule being evaluated also proposes changes to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) supporting document requirements. The Agency has attempted to clarify its supporting document requirements, recognizing that EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) records serve as the most robust form of documentation for on-duty driving periods. FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) neither increases nor decreases the burden associated with Supporting Documents for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Compliance. These proposed changes are expected to improve the quality and usefulness of the supporting documents retained. The improved quality of the supporting documents will subsequently increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency’s review of motor carriers’ HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) records during on-site compliance reviews, thereby increasing its ability to detect HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules violations. The Agency is currently unable to evaluate the extent to which the proposed changes to the supporting documents requirements will lead to reductions in crashes.

The table below summarizes the analysis. The figures presented are annualized using seven percent and three percent discount rates.

Executive Summary. Annualized Costs and Benefits (2008$ millions)

 

7 Percent Discount Rate 3 Percent Discount Rate
Option 1:  RODS Option 2:  RODS+ Option 3:  All Option 1:  RODS RODS+ Option 3:  All
I EOBR Costs 1,586 1,643 1,939 1,554 1,610 1,900
II HOS Compliance Costs 398 404 438 398 404 438
III Total Costs (I+II) 1,984 2,047 2,377 1,952 2,014 2,338
IV Paperwork Savings 1,965 1,965 1,965 1,965 1,965 1,965
V Safety Benefits 734 736 746 734 736 746
VI Total Benefits (IV+V) 2,699 2,701 2,711 2,699 2,701 2,711
VII Net Benefits (VI-III) 715 654 334 747 687 373
VIII Baseline 2 Net Benefits 799 38 418 831 771 457
IX Baseline 3 Net Benefits 859 798 478 891 831 517

 

 

FMCSA has estimated that all options presented in this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis have positive net benefits under any baseline, that is, under any version of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. However, the greatest safety impacts of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules are seen in long-haul (LHlong-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers) operations, and the inclusion of short-haul (SHshort-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers) operations diminishes the net benefits of this EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule, although SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) users would experience sizable paper work savings that boost the net benefits of the rule.5 Therefore Option 3, which includes all carrier operations, results in much lower net benefits as compared to Options 1 and 2. The alternative baselines reflect changes to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules that affect only LH, RODS-using operations.

1.  Background

1.1 Agency Mission Transportation safety is the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) top strategic priority. Because the human toll and economic cost of transportation accidents are substantial, improving transportation safety is an important objective of all DOT Department of Transportation modes. Within DOT, FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) is primarily focused on safe use of public roadways by motor carriers with the goal of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The Secretary of Transportation has promulgated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRsFederal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations) to further this purpose. In carrying out its safety mandate, FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) develops and enforces regulations that balance motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees safety with industry efficiency.6 The goal of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations (49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations Part 395) is to promote safe driving of commercial motor vehicles by limiting on-duty and driving time and ensuring that drivers have adequate time to obtain rest. FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) conducts regular checks at the roadside and during compliance reviews to ensure that drivers are operating within the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) limits. Surveys have shown, however, that many CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles drivers violate HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) limits, and that many also falsify their paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) to give the appearance of legal operation.7,8 A recent online survey, conducted by United Safety Alliance, Inc., revealed that over 78% of its respondents believe that the most common, deliberate HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violation is log-time as being off-duty when actually on-duty. The survey also discovered that “77% of the respondents admitted to deliberately violating the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations in the past and 55% said they were still currently deliberately violating the rules.” Furthermore, survey respondents were asked to estimate how many days per month that they were in violation. Respondents admitted to intentionally violating HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations 6 days per month, and unintentionally at least 5 days per month, either by accident, oversight, or honest mistake.9 The National Transportation Safety Board and safety advocacy groups have recommended mandatory use of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) as a way to increase compliance with HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations.

1.2 Description of Proposed Rule

This RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis provides an assessment of the costs and benefits of requiring motor carriers to use EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) to track driving, on-duty, off-duty, and sleeper berth time. This requirement would be set primarily to improve compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) limits on CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles drivers. EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) track driving time and other activities electronically, providing similar information to the currently used paper RODS. However, use of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) technology would significantly reduce or eliminate false or erroneous driving time records, and could reduce false and erroneous on-duty, off-duty, and sleeper-berth entries. The Agency published a Final Rule on EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (EOBR I) on April 5, 2010, specifying their technical requirements and mandating their installation and use for a period of two years on all power units of carriers with recurrent HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance problems, those found in a compliance review to have a 10 percent or greater violation rate (pattern violation) for any regulation in Appendix C to 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations part 385 (“1X10 Remedial Directive Carriers”). The effective date of this Final Rule is June 4, 2012. A full RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis assessing the costs and benefits of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) was prepared for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, but the analysis of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) benefits and costs has been updated to more precisely evaluate the impacts of these devices when they are required for a majority of or all CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles operations. The Agency has also published an NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule on the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules, and this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis also evaluates EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) against two of the proposals in that NPRM. The Agency has yet to identify any device that functions solely as an EOBR. Rather, electronic HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) recording is a simple extension of many fleet A group of motor vehicles owned or leased by businesses or government agencies management systems (FMSfleet management system) which offer mobile communications and tracking and are integrally synchronized with the CMV, the two most critical hardware requirements for the EOBRs. Carriers required to acquire and use EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) will most likely obtain new FMS fleet management system that offer EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) functionality. As it did in EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, the Agency will continue to recognize that carriers that already have in place FMS fleet management system will have a low or no cost alternative to acquiring EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) functionality. These carriers will simply begin using their devices’ EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) feature or to upgrade their devices to this functionality.

1.3  Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review)

FMCSA has determined that this rulemaking is a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866,10 Regulatory Planning and Review, and significant under Department of Transportation regulatory policies and procedures because the economic costs and benefits of the rule exceed the $100 million annual threshold and because of the substantial Congressional and public interest concerning the crash risks associated with driver fatigue.

1.4  Policy Options Considered

FMCSA is proposing to extend the mandate for EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) to permanent installation and use of these devices for the majority of motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees operations. However, the costs and benefits of such a broad mandate are not identical across all types of options. The options the Agency has chosen to evaluate reflect public comments the Agency received in past EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rulemakings, recommendations from other Government entities, and the Agency’s safety priorities. The Agency is currently considering three options regarding the scope of the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate. Option 1 would require EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) for all drivers required to use paper RODS. Option 2 expands Option 1 to include nearly all passenger carrying CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and all shipments of bulk quantities of hazardous materials (bulk HM), regardless of whether the drivers use paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) or are exempted from doing so as described under the “Short-haul operations” provisions in 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations 395.1(e). The Agency believes that the higher potential for injuries and fatalities in crashes involving passenger-carrying CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and shipments of bulk hazardous materials warrant additional safety requirements for these operations. Option 3 is the broadest in scope within the Agency’s legal authority, and would include all CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles operations subject to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) requirements. The Agency did not consider an alternative for proposing mandatory use of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) only for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations in the current NPRM. Proposing to require EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) would present difficulties for implementation because there is no current regulatory definition of “long-haul” and it is likely that attempts to establish a definition would cause confusion among carriers and enforcement officials. For example, some drivers and carriers may fall under the definition and be subject to the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) requirement on an intermittent basis making it difficult to assess the safety benefits for the periods where such carriers do not engage in LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations.

1.5  Baselines for Analysis

The Agency considered three baselines for its analysis. The first uses the current state of compliance and estimated compliance costs and safety benefits from stricter enforcement of the current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. In constructing this baseline, the Agency began with the baseline level of non compliance developed for changes made to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules in 200311 and carefully reviewed and integrated all subsequent changes that have led to the current regulations. Furthermore, the recomputed baseline includes adjustments that reflect the decrease in HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations found in roadside inspections and the overall improvement in motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees safety since the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis was produced. Compliance costs and safety benefits were also rescaled for inflation and the current estimates of the monetized costs of CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles crashes. FMCSA evaluated costs and benefits against two alternative baselines derived from Options 2 and 3 proposed in the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule regarding property carriers that has been recently published (Option 1 of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule is to retain the current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules)[ 75 FR 82170 (Dec 29, 2010)]). The major changes for both HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) options is to allow at most 13 hours of on-duty time within the daily driving window; limit continuous on-duty drive time to seven hours, at which point a 30-minute off-duty or sleeper-berth period would be required; and to require at least two overnight periods per 34-hour restart. HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 2, however, also reduces daily drive time from 11 to 10 hours, while HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 3 retains 11 hours of drive time. To avoid confusion between the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) options and the options for the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) NPRM, HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 2 and HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Option 3 are referred to as Baseline 2 and Baseline 3. The Agency also estimated EOBRs’ effectiveness in reducing HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations and improving safety. EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) data are not continuously monitored for violations, and even if they were, not all HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations would be documented. Consequently, the Agency cannot assume that EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use will lead to perfect compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations. Safety benefits and compliance costs in all three baselines are therefore reduced to reflect the limitations of the devices. All monetary values are in year 2008 dollars. This is the same basis as the 2010 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA, and facilitates comparison between the two analyses.

1.6  Implementation of Proposed Rule

This RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis separately considers several categories of motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees operations. Short-haul (SHshort-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers) operations for vehicles are defined as those that occur within 150 air-miles of their base, and LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations for vehicles are defined as those that occur outside of the 150 air-mile radius. SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers drivers are generally not required to keep RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) if they work fewer than 12 hours a day, start and stop at the same location, and operate within a 100-air mile radius (under the provisions of 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations 395.1(e)(1)) or operate certain vehicles within a 150-air mile radius (under the provisions of 49 CFR Code of Federal Regulations 395.1(e)(2)).12 The Agency estimates that 25 percent of SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations are exempt from RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) requirements.13 The SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers and LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers group together is the entire regulated freight and passenger transporting population subject to HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations. Because of their higher potential for fatalities and injuries, FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) examined passenger carrying and bulk hazmat operations. Last, the Agency divided carriers into three size groups, large (greater than 1,000 CMVs), medium (151 to 1,000 CMVs), and small (150 CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) or fewer). The Agency found that the percentages of operations in LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers and SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers differ across these size categories. The Agency proposes full implementation to occur three years after the rule is published to allow for sufficient availability of EOBRs. This rule would likely become effective no earlier than 2014, four years after the technical specifications were published in EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, and two years after the first 1×10 remedial directive carriers will have been required to use the devices. Moreover, a significant number of motor carriers have already adopted automatic on-board recording devices earlier recorders w/o GPS capability (AOBRDsautomatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability) for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) recording and monitoring, therefore would likely adopt EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) when units meeting the technical requirements become available. Nevertheless, the Agency is uncertain whether motor carriers and EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) device manufacturers will be prepared for a mandate as broad as those being proposed in this NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule even by 2014, and has requested comments on this topic in the NPRM. 2.  Overview of Motor Carrier Industry

  1. 2.1  Regulated Motor Carriers

FMCSA estimates that approximately 500,000 motor carriers with 4,000,000 drivers and 3,637,000 CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) are currently subject to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. Roughly 60 percent of the industry is engaged in SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations and 40 percent in LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations, although these percentages vary with different segments of the industry. Table 1 below summarizes the number of affected carriers, drivers, and CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) in total and for the individual segments analyzed. The explanation of how these numbers were derived can be found in Appendix A. Table 1: Summary of Regulated Entities (thousands)

 

Total Motor-coach Other Pass-enger Bulk HM Large Medium Small
Total Carriers 504 10 10 18 <1 2 464
Drivers 4,000 54 199 396 1,860 711 780
CMVs 3,637 49 181 360 1,691 646 710
LH Drivers 1,619 28 40 238 558 356 399
CMVs 1,472 25 36 216 507 323 365
SH Drivers 2,381 28 159 158 1,302 356 378
CMVs 2,165 25 145 144 1,184 323 344

 

The magnitude of costs and benefits of this proposed rule is determined by the number of drivers and CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) covered by the mandate. However, the effects of different sources of costs and benefits are not uniform for all drivers and CMVs. For example, the safety benefits of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules are highest for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers drivers, those most at risk to suffer from inadequate rest because of longer continuous daily driving periods and nights spent away from home, and, for team drivers, sleeping in a CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles in motion. For these reasons, LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers carriers are the most likely to already be using EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) or FMS fleet management system to efficiently route their drivers or to track their whereabouts. A full EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate can likely be accomplished more rapidly and at lower costs for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations. SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations accrue smaller safety benefits from the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules, and those SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers carriers exempt from paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) requirements likely have no voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use and would not benefit from the elimination of paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) afforded by EOBRs.

2.2  Current AOBRD/EOBR and FMS fleet management system Use

Many carriers already use AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability and FMS, and will likely voluntarily adopt EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) when units meeting the technical requirements are available. As it did in EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, the Agency excludes any voluntary use of AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability and EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) from its analysis. Although one might believe that the pace of voluntary adoption would increase with the release of the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) technical requirements, the Agency notes that the requirements for AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability have been in the FMCSRs Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations since 1988 and, although some sectors of the motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees industry (specifically, many private motor carriers of property14) use AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability extensively, the estimated adoption rate by motor carriers overall is only approximately 12 percent for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations and 4 percent for SH. The Agency therefore believes that without an EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate, its actions have had little effect on voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) adoption and that it is most appropriate to evaluate benefits and costs with respect to mandated, rather than voluntary, use of these devices. The Agency’s perception is that carriers that voluntarily adopt new technologies has been that these carriers are generally larger, more efficient, and safer than average. In other words, carriers would not have voluntarily adopted EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) to address safety problems but because of a culture of safety consciousness that extends across many of its business decisions. Survey data collected by Corsi et al.15 seem to verify this hypothesis: Their data found a negative corellation between current voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use and past SafeStat16 scores, that is voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) users had lower past scores, indicating that they were relatively safer relative to other carriers. With respect to this analysis of an EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate, voluntary adopters likely have better underlying HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance records, and therefore lower net benefits of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use than those carriers that will utilize the devices only when mandated to do so. Because the net benefits of this rule pertain only to these carriers that have not yet installed EOBRs, they may be understated in this analysis. It is important to note, however, that voluntary adopters likely accrue other benefits that are not necessarily part of minimal EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) functionality, but that arise from other fleet A group of motor vehicles owned or leased by businesses or government agencies management capabilities in the systems EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) may be bundled with. However, the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) performance specifications are such that an EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) may be a stand-alone system that can only electronically monitor HOS, so these other potential productivity benefits have not been evaluated here. The Agency seeks data and information from current users of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) devices about any business benefits that they have observed. This RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis uses an updated model for forecasting voluntary use of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) or AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability and FMS fleet management system without any EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate. Details on how this forecast was constructed are presented in Appendix B of this RIA. The Agency forecasted voluntary use only for LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations and, based on data observed in 2005, assumed that voluntary use for SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations will be one-third that of LH. As a consequence, while voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system usage approaches 100 percent, SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers voluntary use never exceeds 33 percent. This seems reasonable in light of the fact that SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) operate close enough to their terminals such that HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) monitoring and CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles tracking is not problematic. Table 2 presents the forecasts of voluntary EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system use that would have occurred without the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) mandate. Included is the percentage of carriers who would already be required to use EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) under a 1×10 remedial directive; they are excluded from the analysis for this rule because the benefits and costs of their using EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) were already accounted for under EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I. Table 2: Current and Projected EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system Use

 

FMS Use AOBRD or EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Use
Year LH SH LH LH 1X10 SH
2007 29% 10% 10% 0% 3%
2008 31% 10% 11% 0% 4%
2009 33% 11% 12% 0% 4%
2010 35% 12% 13% 0% 4%
2011 37% 12% 14% 0% 5%
2012 40% 13% 16% 10% 5%
2013 42% 14% 17% 10% 6%
2014 44% 15% 19% 10% 6%
2015 46% 15% 20% 10% 7%
2016 49% 16% 22% 10% 7%
2017 51% 17% 24% 10% 8%
2018 53% 18% 26% 10% 9%

 

2.3 Total EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Required The estimates presented in the previous two sections are used to produce estimates of the number of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) that will need to be produced to meet the Agency’s proposed mandate. A large portion of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) supply will be met by existing FMS fleet management system which, as discussed in the next section, significantly reduces the cost of this rule. Table 3 presents the estimates of new EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and upgradeable FMS fleet management system needed for the LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers and SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers drivers and CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) presented in table 2 above. Conversations with motorcoach companies and vendors indicate that passenger-carrying operations are not given attention by FMS fleet management system vendors. The logistics of passenger transport, which generally follows predetermined schedules and routes, differ from the logistics of property transport, in which pickup and delivery of loads may be scheduled with little to no notice and in which the type of cargo, vehicle size, and weight can require more careful routing of CMVs. Consequently, the Agency assumes that the current use of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) and FMS fleet management system is insignificant in passenger carrying operations, and uses 0 percent in its calculations. Data in the shaded rows are carried forward into later stages of the analysis for the calculations of total costs and benefits. Table 3: SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers and LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers Drivers and CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) Affected by Rule (thousands or percentages)

 

Passenger Carriers Bulk HM Carriers Other Property Carriers
LH I Drivers 68 238 1,313
II CMVs 61 216 1,195
III EOBR Use 0% 29% 29%
IV FMS Use 0% 44% 44%
V Drivers w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (I × (1 – II)) 68 169 932
VI CMVs w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (II × (1 – III)) 61 153 848
VII CMVs needing new EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (VI × (1 – IV)) 61 86 475
VIII CMVs w/ FMS fleet management system Upgrade (VI × IV) 0 67 373
SH IX Drivers 187 158 2,036
X CMVs 170 144 1,851
XI EOBR Use 0% 6% 6%
XII FMS Use 0% 15% 15%
XIII Drivers w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (IX × (1 – XI)) 187 149 1,914
XIV CMVs w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (X × (1 – XI)) 170 135 1,740
XV CMVs with New EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XIV × (1 – XII)) 170 115 1,479
XVI CMVs w/ FMS fleet management system Upgrade (XIV × XII) 0 20 261

 

For the calculation of paperwork savings, it is also necessary to divide the SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers populations into those using RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) and those not using RODS. SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations that are exempt from RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) under one of the SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers provisions will accrue no paperwork savings from EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use and are unlikely to currently use EOBRs. Table 4 presents this subdivision. Many calculations in this table refer back to table 3. Table 4: SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers non-RODS and SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) Drivers and CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) Affected by Rule (thousands)

 

Passenger Carriers Bulk HM Carriers Other Property Carriers
SH w/o RODS XVII Drivers w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XIII * 25%) 47 37 479
XVIII CMVs w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XII * 25%) 43 34 435
XIX CMVs with New EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XVIII × (1 – XII)) 43 29 370
XX CMVs w/ FMS fleet management system Upgrade (XVIII × XII) 0 5 65
SH w/ RODS XXI Drivers w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XIII – XVII) 140 112 1,435
XXII CMVs w/o EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XIV – XVIII) 127 101 1,305
XXIII CMVs with New EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) (XV – XIX) 127 86 1,109
XXIV CMVs w/ FMS fleet management system Upgrade (XVI – XX) 0 15 196

 

3.  EOBR Device Costs

  1. 3.1  New EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Costs

The Agency is basing its estimate of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) purchase cost on one FMS fleet management system that offers electronic HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) monitoring and is representative of mid-2010 state-of-the-practice devices. Cost information was gathered from a conversation with a sales representative from this manufacturer.17 Although the $1,675 purchase price of this unit is on the high end of the range of prices the Agency is aware of, its manufacturer has the largest share of the FMS fleet management system market. Therefore units sold at this price are currently the most abundantly available. The manufacturer states that it generally covers all repairs within a three-year initial warranty period, and that it has been charging $300-$500 per repair outside of the warranty period. The vendor also claims that its devices are extremely durable and are specially tested to ensure they withstand the rigors of CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles operation; it states that many of its early model FMS fleet management system units have been in service for more than a decade. Although it is unlikely that all EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) will remain serviceable for such long periods, less durable units would likely have lower purchase prices, and amortized over time, the purchase and repair costs of the unit considered in the analysis may equal the purchase and repair or replacement costs of other units. In its analysis, the Agency assumes that $500 repairs will be required in the fifth and tenth years of the devices’ operational lives. As is the case for the purchase price, the Agency believes it is using a relatively high estimate for repair costs. Two other costs related to the device are considered in the analysis. The first is the cost of installation. The vendor of the device FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) is using in this analysis states that installation by an experienced technician would take an hour or two per unit. This RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis will use an installation cost of $100, which is approximately two hours of labor cost for a CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles technician. The Agency believes the installation of this device is relatively more complex than that of other units. For example, the device used for the RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis in EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I was simply plugged into a CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) OBDII port, a procedure that took only a few seconds. The last cost is that for monthly service fees for the unit. The minimum service package, which covers all FMS fleet management system functions and HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) monitoring, costs $40 per month. In this analysis, the Agency has assumed complete ownership, or access, to computer technology by motor carriers, as their use is known to be ubiquitous among all businesses. Also, this assumption has been adopted from EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I analysis, therefore, the analysis did not consider an estimation of the cost of purchasing new equipment (i.e., PCs). The Agency seeks public comments on this assumption.

3.2  EOBR Monitoring on Current FMS

Many FMS fleet management system currently offer an HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) monitoring feature. Vendors of these devices have told the Agency that they are already modifying the functionality of these devices to comply with the technical requirements of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I. Almost all FMS fleet management system currently sold offer the two most important hardware features necessary for EOBRs, location tracking and synchronization with the CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles engine, and the Agency believes that most upgrades will be relatively inexpensive software changes. Although HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) monitoring is often included in a single monthly fee, some manufacturers offer a la carte pricing for that particular feature. Two vendors contacted for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I quoted prices of $5 or $8 per month for this additional service.18 The higher number is used in this RIA.

3.3  Training Costs

In analyses conducted for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) included the costs of training drivers, motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees office staff, and state police and other roadside inspection staff on how to use the devices and access electronic records, but in this RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) has opted to exclude these costs as insignificant. Spread over the 140,000 CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) affected by EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, annualized training costs amounted to only $26 per CMV.19 Training of enforcement staff accounted for $6 of that cost, and because this training has to be undertaken for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I, it is not a cost of this rule. Training costs borne by carriers were spread over two years (the period of time a carrier remains under a remedial directive). When the devices are installed permanently, these figures would be amortized over more years, further reducing the estimated cost per CMV. Most importantly, however, is that as the Agency has continued to talk with FMS fleet management system vendors and to learn how these units function, it has come to believe that use of the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) features by drivers and access to the electronic RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) by carriers are largely intuitive and self-explanatory. Vendors have demonstrated that they have tried to make these devices as easy-to-use as possible for the motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees industry. A sales representative from the vendor of the device used in this analysis was able to demonstrate to FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) staff the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) features of his firm’s device in just a few minutes. Other devices Agency staff has seen use either touch screens or simple buttons or keys for interacting with the device. The RouteTracker device analyzed for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I used the driver’s cell phone as its user interface. Among the tasks most drivers are already able to accomplish with current communications technology, such as mobile phones, computers, and FMS, using EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) functions would rank as one of the simplest, and would certainly require no additional expertise from drivers. Also, by the time this rule becomes effective, the Agency believes that most drivers will have had some interaction with an FMS fleet management system if not an EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) in the course of their careers. The Agency is also certain that new drivers will learn to use EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) much more rapidly than to learn how to manually fill in paper RODS. Allowing for 5 minutes’ worth of initial training per driver at a rate of $27 per hour20 yields an initial training cost of $2.25 per driver, and using the ratio of 1.1 drivers per CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles (or EOBR)21 yields a cost of about $2.50 per EOBR. Because it is a one-time cost—new drivers in the future will substitute EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) training for paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) training already occurring—it should be amortized over the ten-year horizon of this analysis, which yields an annualized value (using a 7 percent discount rate) of $0.33 per EOBR. Given that the Agency uses a relatively high EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) cost estimate in this analysis, it has opted not to include this minor adjustment for training costs. Also, carrier office staff should be able to access and review the electronic records of their drivers more easily. The vendors of devices offering EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) features that the Agency is aware of all offer a World Wide Web based hosting system for driver electronic RODS. Carrier staff need only log on to a secure web site to have access to all their drivers’ records. The Agency believes that the tasks required of carrier office staff to view and audit the records from EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) are no more complex than those they should already be able to complete for other office work, and assumes that no additional training will be needed by carrier office staff.

3.4  Annualized Estimates of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Costs

Based on the information described above and data gathered earlier for the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I RIA, the Agency calculated annualized costs per device. These results are presented in table 5. All costs are discounted over 10 years and to the beginning of year 1. The analysis uses the total device cost of $785 per year. Table 5: Annualized EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Costs

 

New EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Purchase EOBR-Ready FMS
EOBR I Device EOBR II Device
Description of Monthly Costs $45=($35 for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Service + $10 for Cell Phone Data Service) $40 Fee for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Monitoring $8 fee for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Monitoring
Monthly Operating Cost Discounted to Beginning of Year (12 Payments Discounted at 7%÷12) $520 $462 $92
Description of Startup Costs $35 for Initial Fee $1675 for Device + $100 for Installation, $500 for Repair $0 (Power Units Already Equipped with Hardware)
Startup Costs $35 $1,775 $0
Repair Costs in 5th and 10th Years $500
Annualized Startup Costs $5 $323 $0
Total Annualized Costs $525 $785 $92

 

4.  Baseline for HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits

  1. 4.1  Overview of Analysis

The total level of non-compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) is extremely difficult to measure because violators have an incentive to hide their behavior. FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) does have extensive data on HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations from roadside inspections, compliance reviews, and safety audits, but, because the Agency cannot continually monitor every carrier and driver, this is an incomplete picture of HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance. The last analysis to comprehensively assess total non-compliance was conducted for the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rule and resulted in estimates in costs and benefits of full compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules relative to a “status quo,” that is a real-world baseline of daily and weekly drive and duty times. However, data on total compliance have not been collected since then, but the Agency does not assume that the status-quo baseline has remained static since 2003. Rather, it assumes that total HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance has changed proportionally to changes in HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations found in roadside inspections, and additionally that the safety impacts of HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) non-compliance has changed proportionally to changes in overall societal damages from CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles crashes adjusted for revised estimates of fatigue involvement in those crashes. The following sections demonstrate step-by-step how the Agency updated the 2003 baseline to reflect the present status of compliance. FMCSA carefully reviewed all of its past HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rulemaking analyses back to the 2003 rule, the point at which the Agency evaluated the underlying level of non-compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules prior to changes already implemented or proposed in the recently published HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM. 75 FR 82170 (Dec 29, 2010). From that point through the current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM, each analysis of changes to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules has evaluated the impacts of rule changes with respect to the fraction of operations affected by the changes. That is, they represent the incremental costs and benefits of full enforcement to changes to the rule compared to the costs and benefits of full enforcement of the existing rules. Consequently, starting from the 2003 status quo baseline, the costs and benefits of subsequent changes can be layered on to create figures representing costs and benefits of eliminating non-compliance with the rules currently in effect. Figures were also adjusted for inflation and underlying improvements in overall motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees safety and compliance with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations. Because the Agency has recently published proposed revisions to the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rule, the Agency seeks comments related to the approach by which HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) is used within this rule.

4.2  Baseline for Compliance Costs

Compliance costs associated with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules from the perspective of a mandate for EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use represent the costs of moving the motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees industry from the current level of less-than-one-hundred-percent compliance to full compliance with the current, or any set of HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. The Agency used several steps to construct a baseline, that is, the maximum compliance costs EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) would force carriers to bear if these devices brought about perfect enforcement of the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules, the current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules and two of the proposed HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) options, as described in section 1.5 of this RIA. Table 6 below presents the results of each level of this process. In step one (I), FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) used figures from the “Current/100%” column of Exhibit 9-15 of the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA.22 These figures estimated the costs of moving motor carriers to full compliance with the pre-2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. Step 2 (II-III) adds the incremental changes to compliance costs from changes to the rules put in effect in 2003; these figures are from the “FMCSA” column of Exhibit 9-13 of the 2003 RIA. Step 3 (IV-VI) adds the 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rule changes—see Exhibits ES-2 and ES-5 of the 2005 RIA23—deflated24 to the same year 2000 dollars as the 2003 figures.25 Step 4 arrives at the baseline for the current rules by adjusting from year 2000 to 2008 dollars (122%) and the 16 percent decline (84% = 100% – 16%) in HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations discovered in roadside inspections since the 2003 rules went into effect. The calculation of this decline in the out of service (OOS) violation rate is presented in Appendix C of this RIA. The final steps simply add the incremental costs of the two alternative baselines derived from the 2010 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA. The 2003, 2005, and 2010 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rule baselines are taken from their respective RIAs which are available for public comment in the docket and summarized in Appendix H. Table 6: Derivation of Compliance Cost Baselines

Annual Compliance Costs of Current and Alternative Baselines (millions)
Compliance Costs
SH LH Total
I Full Compliance vs. Non Compliance Status Quo, Pre-2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule ($2000) 232 1,954 2,186
II Full Compliance with 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2000) 168 -1,073 -905
III 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Baseline ($2000) (I + II) 400 881 1,281
IV 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2004) 0 34 34
V 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2000) (IV ÷ ~109%) 0 31 31
VI 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Baseline ($2000) (III + V) 400 912 1,312
VII Current Compliance Cost Baseline ($2008) (VII × ~84% × ~122%) 411 938 1,349
Alternate Base Lines
VIII HOS Option 2 Incremental Cost ($2008) 0 1,030 1,030
IX HOS Option 2 Total Compliance Cost ($2008) (VII + VIII) 411 1,968 2,379
X HOS Option 3 Incremental Cost ($2008) 0 520 520
XI HOS Option 3 Total Compliance Cost ($2008) (VII + X) 411 1,458 1,869

 

4.3  Baseline for Safety Benefits

The calculations of the safety benefits follow similar steps as the compliance cost calculations. Table 7 below presents the results of each level of this process. Step one (I) figures are pulled from the “Current/100%” column of Exhibit 9-16 of the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA.26 These figures estimated the safety benefits of moving motor carriers to full compliance with the pre-2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules. Step 2 (II-III) adds the incremental changes to safety from changes to the rules put in effect in 2003; these figures are from the “FMCSA” column of Exhibit 9-6 of the 2003 RIA. Step 3 (IV-VI) adds the 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rule changes—see Exhibits ES-2 and ES-5 of the 2005 RIA27—deflated to the same year 2000 dollars as the 2003 RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis figures.28 Step 4 arrives adjusts for a 203 percent increase in the average value of a CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles crash, which reflects both inflation from 2000 to 2008 and a higher value of statistical life (VSL), since the 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis was produced. The calculation of this increase in the value per crash is presented in Appendix D. Step 5 inflates safety benefits to account for the Agency’s revised estimate of fatigue related crashes, as discussed in the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis (see also Appendix D of this RIA) [. The Agency had estimated 7 percent as the percentage of CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles crashes attributable to CMV Commercial Motor Vechicles driver fatigue, but the 2010 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis bases its analysis on 13 percent, which results in an adjustment of 186 percent (13%÷7%). The final steps simply add the incremental benefits of the two alternative baselines presented in the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM. Importantly, the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule analysis calculates additional benefits from driver health improvements brought about by the proposed changes to the rule.

 

Table 7: Derivation of Safety Benefit Baselines ($ millions) SH LH Total
I Full Compliance vs. Non Compliance Status Quo, Pre-2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule ($2000) 22 429 451
II Full Compliance with 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2000) 10 225 235
III 2003 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Baseline ($2000) (I + II) 32 654 686
IV 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2004) 0 20 20
V 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Changes ($2000) (IV ÷ ~109%) 0 18 18
VI 2005 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Rule Baseline ($2000) (III + V) 32 672 704
VII Current Safety Benefit Baseline ($2008) (VII × 203%) 65 1,364 1,429
VIII Rebase to Higher Estimate of Underlying Fatigue ($2008) (VII × 186%) 121 2,537 2,658
Alternate Base Lines
IX HOS Option 2 Incremental Benefit ($2008) 0 1,410 1,410
X HOS Option 2 Total Safety Benefit ($2008) (VIII + IX) 121 3,947 4,068
XI HOS Option 3 Incremental Benefit ($2008) 0 1,080 1,080
XII HOS Option 3 Total Safety Benefit ($2008) (VIII + XI) 121 3,617 3,738

 

 

4.4  EOBR Effectiveness

In the last few years, the Agency has entered into settlement agreements with a few carriers in which it waived civil penalties for violations discovered in compliance reviews in exchange for the carriers agreeing to install AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability with enhanced functionality (such as automated location-tracking). The Agency examined roadside inspection and crash data to evaluate the effectiveness of these devices at reducing violations and crashes for these carriers. Analysis of crash data is inconclusive. To date, relatively small carriers have entered these agreements, and although their crash rates may have been high, crashes were too infrequent to yield statistically significant measures of the safety impacts of enhanced AOBRDs. FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) will continue to monitor the data for these carriers. Roadside inspection HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violation data, however, were plentiful and yielded statistically significant results. The overall out of service HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violation rate fell 70 percent for these carriers, but many of the violations eliminated were those for missing and improper RODS, which may not mask violations to driving or on-duty time limits. Consequently, the Agency focused on driving and on-duty time violations, which it estimates EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) can reduce 40 percent. Therefore, in addition to baseline compliance of current HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) rules, the implementation of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) devices is estimated to eliminate 40 percent of remaining out of service HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) violations. Appendix E contains a more detailed description of this calculation and other analyses and studies the Agency considered for estimating EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) effectiveness. The 2010 HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis does not measure the current state of compliance with the current proposal. FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (The agency proposing the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) rule) has used the level of non-compliance with the pre-2003 rule, with some adjustments, including one which accounts for the current size of the carrier population affected by this rule..

4.5  Attainable Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits

The baselines presented in sections 4.2 and 4.3 were adjusted to reflect the maximum efficacy of EOBRs. These results are presented in tables 8 and 9 below. Table 8: Attainable Annual Compliance Costs with 40% EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Effectiveness (2008$ millions)

 

SH LH Total
Baseline 1 Compliance Cost 164 375 539
Baseline 2 Compliance Cost 164 787 951
Baseline 3 Compliance Cost 164 583 747

 

Table 9: Attainable Annual Safety Benefits with 40% EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) Effectiveness (2008$ millions)

 

SH LH Total
XIII Current Safety Benefit 48 1,015 1,063
XIV HOS Option 2 Safety Benefit 48 1,579 1,627
XV HOS Option 3 Safety Benefit 48 1,447 1,495

 

4.6  Compliance Costs and Safety Benefits per EOBR

In order to complete the analysis, the Agency computes compliance costs and safety benefits per EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) installed. It assumes that the benefits of EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use have already accrued to those operations currently employing AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability or EOBRs, 12% of LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers operations and 4% of SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers operations (the year 2009 row of table 2). EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) are installed on individual CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and, as indicated in table 1, there are currently 1,472,000 LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) and 2,165,000 SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs. The number of LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) without AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability or EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) is 1,295,000 ((1-0.12)×1,472,000) and the number of SH short-haul: generally, < 150 mi. from base for property carriers CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) without AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability or EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) is 2,078,000 (((1-0.04)×2,165,000), for a total of 3,374,000 CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) without the devices. The attainable compliance costs and safety benefits per EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) are calculated by dividing the values in tables 8 and 9 by the number of CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) without AOBRDs automatic onboard recording devices: earlier recorders w/o GPS capability or EOBRs. An adjustment was made to the LH long-haul; generally >150 mi. from base for property carriers figures to account for the fact that the 1,295,000 CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) that currently do not have EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) contain CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) of 1X10 carriers, those with the worst HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) compliance records that are covered under EOBR1, which will not be effective until 2012. The compliance costs and safety benefits of those remaining CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) will be slightly lower than the current state of the industry after the 1X10 remedial directive goes into effect.29 Tables 10 and 11 present the results of these calculations. Table 10: Attainable Annual Compliance Cost per EOBR

A B C D
SH LH LH Adjusted (B × 90%) Total
XII Current Compliance Cost 79 289 261 160
XIII HOS Option 2 Compliance Cost 79 608 547 282
XIV HOS Option 3 Compliance Cost 79 450 405 221

Table 11: Attainable Annual Safety Benefit per EOBR

A B C D
SH LH LH Adjusted (B × 84%) Total
XII Current Safety Benefit 23 784 658 315
XIII HOS Option 2 Safety Benefit 23 1,219 1,024 482
XIV HOS Option 3 Safety Benefit 23 1,117 938 443

5.  Paperwork Savings

  1. 5.1  Summary of Paperwork Savings

The use of EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) will significantly reduce the paperwork and recordkeeping burden associated with the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) regulations. Drivers will benefit the most: EOBRS will greatly reduce the time they spend completing their RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) and eliminate the time that some of them currently spend forwarding their RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) to their employers while they are away from the motor carriers’ terminals. Comments received for the NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the official document announcing and explaining the proposed rule on the EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) I rule suggest that carriers often do not recognize these savings because drivers are not always compensated for completing these tasks. Regardless, the Agency has long recognized in the estimates it prepares for the HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Information Collection Request supporting statements that the largest portion of burden falls directly to drivers. With EOBR Electronic on-Board Recorder (A device attached to commercial motor vehicles that tracks the number of hours drivers spend on the road) use, carriers will accrue clerical time savings and will altogether avoid the cost of purchasing paper log books. Table 12 below summarizes the paperwork and recordkeeping savings for each driver using an EOBR. Table 12: Annual Paperwork Savings per Driver Switching from Paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) to EOBR

 

Driver Clerk Cost of Log Books Total Paperwork Savings
Filling RODS Submitting RODS Filing RODS
$486 $56 $116 $30 $688

 

 

5.2  Labor Costs

The Agency estimated the hourly labor costs of drivers and motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees clerical staff. A motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees employee at some supervisory level would also handle the RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) in their duties reviewing them, but the Agency assumes that electronic RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) will undergo the same scrutiny as paper RODS, and therefore does not estimate any time savings for these employees. This analysis uses a fringe benefit percentage of 1.5230 for motor carrier A person providing motor vehicle transportation for compensation. The term includes a motor carrier’s agents, officers and employees staff and a base wage of $15 per hour for clerical staff and $18 for drivers.31 Multiplying these base wages by the fringe benefit factor yields labor costs of about $23 for clerks and $27 for drivers. Drivers are assumed to undertake these activities during non-compensated, off-duty time, whereas filing is part of normal paid clerical duties. The clerical wage was inflated by 27 percent to include firm overhead.32 The final labor costs used were $29 for clerks and $27 for drivers.

5.3  Driver Time Savings

EOBRs do not fully eliminate driver time spent logging HOS. Although changes from on-duty driving to on-duty non-driving are logged automatically by monitoring of the CMVs Commercial Motor Vehicles (vehicles owned or used by a business) motion, a driver will still have to interact with these devices to log in at the beginning of the work shift, to log out at the end of the work shift, and to change duty status to off-duty and, if applicable, sleeper berth time. The Agency estimates that drivers fill out on average 240 RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) per year. EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) are estimated to reduce the amount of time drivers spend logging their HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) by 4.5 minutes per RODS. EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) are also assumed to completely eliminate the time drivers spend filing or forwarding their RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) to the carriers, which the Agency estimates takes 5 minutes and occurs 25 times per year. These estimates match those used in the currently approved HOS Hours of service (Regulations issued by FMCSA that limit the number of daily and weekly hours a CMV driver may drive) Information Collection Request supporting statement. Total annual estimated time savings per driver are 18 hours for filling out the RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) (4.5 minutes × 240 RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) ÷ 60 minutes per hour) and 2.08 hours for forwarding RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) (5 minutes × 25 occurrences ÷ 60 minutes per hour). These result in annual labor or time cost savings per driver of $486 (18 hours × $27 per hour) plus $56 (2.08 hours × $27 per hour). The Agency seeks comment from the public on the accuracy of these estimates.

5.4  Clerical Time Savings

Because electronic RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) will likely be automatically transmitted and stored on a secure website, carrier clerical staff will no longer have to handle these documents. The Agency had estimated that it took carrier clerical staff only a minute to file each RODS, and EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) will now completely eliminate that task, resulting in annual time savings of 4 hours per driver (1 minute × 240 RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) ÷ 60 minutes per hour). The labor cost saving of clerical time is $116 (4 hours × $29 per hour).

5.5  Paper Cost Savings

Vendors such as JJ Keller sell bound packets containing a month’s worth of paper RODS Record of duty status (A logbook maintained by CMV drivers to track driving time (i.e., duty status) for each 24-hour period) for about $2.50. EOBRs Electronic on-Board Recorders (Devices attached to commercial motor vehicles that track the number of hours drivers spend on the road) will eliminate the need for these materials, resulting in annual cost savings per driver of $30 (12 monthly log books × $2.50). Go to next section of the RIA.