Canadian ELD Mandate – “100 days to go”

2021 is a big year for the Canadian ELD market undoubtedly. Same as the U.S. ELD mandate, the Canadian ELD mandate will also require most commercial drivers to install compliant Electronic Logging Devices.

It’s important to understand the Canada ELD mandate in detail and do prepare for it ahead of the June 12, 2021, deadline.

However, the Canadian version is the same as the US mandate, it’s still a complicated proceeding that every related individual must understand. Non-compliance will cause huge fines and out-of-service orders — both costly to the company and the driver.

Vice President of Policy at the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), Geoffrey Wood stated:

"The ultimate purpose of this mandate is to make processes effective, enforceable, and transparent for managing Hours of Service (HOS) and addressing the ineffectiveness of paper record-keeping across the industry."

Fran?ois Laporte, Teamsters Canada President also supports the mandate and stated:

“Mandatory ELD in commercial vehicles will finally make hours-of-service regulations enforceable. It will help to reduce driver fatigue, prevent accidents and ultimately save lives.”

QUICK HIGHLIGHTS:

• It will standardize the processes to avoid errors and prevent tampering to logbooks
• It will adopt most of the provisions in the US Mandate, which took effect in December 2017

• It won’t change the Hours-of-Service regulations — just how to drive time is recorded and reported
• It will require replacing paper logs with a regulation-compliant device that connects directly to the engine ECM
• New device requirements require an update of existing “e-logging” devices or replacement (AOBRDs, EOBRs, e-Logs)

ELD Introduction

In a general conception, one may assume that ELD only tracks a driver’s Hours-of-Service (HOS) and nothing more, but they provide technology to help streamline workflow and communication.

The ELD is nothing but the hardware that connects with the truck’s engine control module (ECM). It tracks HOS compliance, mandating both drivers and trucking companies to adhere to the strict rules put in place for safety and health during in-transit. Paper-driven days of recording hours are gone results in no illegal manipulation of driving hours. ELD can transfer captured information to dispatch or DOT/MTO officers during an inspection. Police will be able to use the information for investigating an accident as it stores the information in a standardized format that no one can alter.

ELD Market

The electronic logging device market is expected to rise from USD 11.5 billion in 2018 to over USD 16 billion by 2025, according to a 2019 Global Market Insights, Inc. report. The market growth is due to tough government regulations to integrate these devices in countries such as the USA and European Union. The US enforced the ELD mandate rule in December 2017, while Europe made the digital tachographs mandatory for commercial vehicles with GVWR more than 3.5 tons since 2006.

About ELD Mandate Canada

The ELD mandate regulations require drivers of commercial motor vehicles to keep a record of duty status (RODS) and must use an ELD to follow the rules of Hours-of-Service. This mandate does not change the Hours-of-Service rules already in place; it will monitor most drivers’ and carriers’ compliance with the rules by requiring the use of a certified Electronic Logging Device.

Who is required to migrate?

Mostly as the US ELD mandate, the Canadian regulation has compliance criteria for various types of fleets. So, to fall under those compliant-ready criteria many drivers/transporters need to migrate to ELDs. For more clarity, fleets are subject to this regulation includes vehicles operating outside a radius of less than 160 km from their base location, vehicles that are the model year 2000 or newer, lease or rental agreements of more than 30 days, and unavailability of existing HOS permits/exemptions pertaining specifically to oil fields and certain other regimes operating outside the standard.

ELD Certification

Since Canada has not fully implemented its mandate yet, there are no certified Canadian ELDs on the market as of now. The Canadian ELD standard is very much similar to the US rules, Canadian ELDs will simply require a software update. ELDs for the US were self-certified by the manufacturer. In Canada, the requirement for certification is through a 3rd party which ensures the devices comply with the technical standard. In the case of cross-border trucking, US operators entering into Canada would require their ELD provider to get-government-approved certification to be legal in Canada.

Transport Canada partnered with the Standards Council of Canada to identify certification bodies to streamline certifying ELDs for use in Canada.

Transport Canada and ELD manufacturers have already taken steps for regular updates of devices, and information from these updates is posted on Transport Canada’s ELD webpage, which includes listings of official vendors.

Costly or Beneficial

Safety is not the only thing ELDs increase. Transport Canada has conducted research showing the benefits of an ELD exceed the costs. These cost savings include quicker roadside inspections by enforcement officials, driver downtime, and more efficient deliveries which will reduce customer costs.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has been to influence for the last 10+ years by knowing the benefits these devices can bring.

How it will shake the Canadian trucking ecosystem? & It applies to whom?

Not much effect to any of the carrier which is already doing cross-border transportation because they already have ELDs installed as required by US regulation. But if any carrier is doing the major things at local then all the carriers in Canada that are using Electronic Recording Devices under Section 83 or good old-fashioned paper logs need to quickly catch up before June of 2021 when Canada begins enforcement.

All Canadian truckers or Canadian trucking companies must prepare for the implementation of the upcoming Canadian Electronic Logging Device Mandate which is set to enforce on June 12th, 2021. Any fleets and commercial drivers in Canada have to go computerized logs to track the driver’s hours instead of outdated paper logs. A third party will certify ELD devices to ensure the technical standards.

Commercial motor vehicles will be exempt from ELDs if they are falling under the following:

o  The vehicle was manufactured before 2000

o  Vehicle working under a permit from a provincial or territorial HOS director

o  On-going rental agreement of fewer than 30 days

o  Have a statutory exemption

Comparison with US Mandate

Canada used the US mandate as a model and then customized it to fit its owner’s unique environment. The idea is to make the rules consistent with the US mandate for fleets that operate in both Canada and the USA

Resemblance:

• Hours-of-Service regulations are not changing
• ELDs will have to put together and transfer an output file, and motor carriers will be required to keep drivers’ Records of Duty Status for 6 months

Variance:

• Contrasting the US ELD mandate, the Canadian version does not have a grandfather provision for ERDs
• No “drive away-tow away” exemption in the Canadian ELD mandate compare to the U.S. mandate
• Varying from the US ELD mandate, all Canadian ELDs will need to be certified by an accredited third-party that will test them against the Canadian standard
• Canadian regulations do not allow truckers to drive in personal conveyance beyond 75 kilometers in a day

Few Outcome Expectations

With the new mandate, the law of unintended consequences to happen. Here are a few things which the USA experienced that Canada may have to look forward to:

• The expectation of improved detention times with this mandate but hopes crashed as detention times have not changed
• Parking is again a huge concern for truck drivers. Truckers can’t go down the road all the time and they have to stop, and it’s highlighting the lack of facilities for trucks to safely park. Truckers face more stress over parking as they spend more time searching for space and ultimately leads to the unauthorized area of a parking
• Better Hours of Service compliance which is going to be expected sure-shot benefit in terms of lesser HOS violations out of this mandate and in the near-future slashed down the figure will prove the same

Implementation Checklist

Choosing an ELD solution is a huge decision that will impact your business for years to come. The right solution can streamline operations and reduce costs. The misfit solution can create unnecessary headaches and leave your business at-risk.

1.      Compliant-ready:

• ELD solution must comply with the Canadian ELD mandate
• Fully support pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports
• Supportive to file “International Fuel Tax Agreement” (IFTA) reports

2.      GPS Tracking:

• Asset (trailers, equipment, or other high-value assets) tracking and vehicle tracking everything must be on a single dashboard view
• Auto ETA notifications
• Geofencing reporting and alerts to know time spent by drivers or assets to complete a particular job as well as about ATDs & ATAs

3.      Safety:

• To automatically capture footage of critical events, a solution must consist of in-built dash cams
• Real-time alerts for critical events
• Customizable driver scorecards to easily identify the most dangerous drivers
• An ability to view dashcam footage in real-time and request videos from the past

4.      Efficiency and Performance:

• To prevent breakdowns and proactively plan maintenance, a solution must have vehicle diagnostic reports and fault code reports
• To identify excessive vehicle idling and reduce fuel usage, a solution must provide truck’s idle time reports
• Asset utilization reports to identify assets that aren’t being used to their fullest

5.      Driver Communication and Dispatch:

• Instant messaging to drivers with reading receipts
• Instant and seamless alert mechanism of messages to all drivers or specific groups of drivers
• The ability to send and store documents such as POD and receipts

6.      Installation:

A readymade product-based solution will save a significant amount of money and operational headaches down the road compare to hard-wired solution because in that type of solution telematics device is wired directly to the vehicle’s onboard computer. Because it often requires some specific mechanic work to fix it. And also, in-future the truck will be on rent/lease/technology upgrade comes then it will another expense and unnecessary complication.

7.      Support:

The trucking business doesn’t operate only during office hours, and neither should your ELD solution’s customer service, so 24x7 support is a must here.

8.      Implementation onboarding:

Only prefer implementation partner with quick TAT and seamless onboarding of the ELD solution, so rather more focusing on solution implementation do plan to utilize it asap manner.

9.      Data-driven ROI:

Only data is not sufficient to drive better ROI, detailed insights on top of the data are more important for all the operations and to the management. These data insights have the potential to reduce costs, prevent collisions, and much more to find problems, trends, and opportunities in the existing business ecosystem.

10.  Integration-ready:

The solution should be coupled – not in a silo. The solution should able to connect to all internal-external business systems can be a key driver of operational efficiency and can help unlock the full value of the data.

In a Nutshell

The 100-day countdown started from today - don’t be late. The effective date is June 12, 2021.

Modifying the enforcement date would require legislation, which is highly not possible at this stage, so Transport Canada is holding firm on the declared enforcement date.

Kerri Wirachowsky, the director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's roadside inspection program, stated:

"The provinces have not yet come up with any specific information as to what they plan to do for intra-provincial and USA carriers". And on the out-of-service case, she stated "There is no out-of-service condition for no-ELD in Canada as of now, drivers would not be placed out-of-service and they would be allowed to continue their trip as long as they have some form of RODS."

In the USA, many trucking operators and motor carriers waited very late to implement the ELD solution. Specifically, four months before the U.S. mandate to happen, 67% of small fleets and 19% of large fleets missed the enforcement date to fully integrate ELDs into their fleet operations.

Upcoming one hundred days could be traumatic for American truckers preparing for the Canadian ELD mandate. Right now, no certified ELDs on the market yet, and apart from FAQs - no official rule guide of how enforcement will handle carriers with non-compliant devices.

Disclaimer: All information mentioned in this article has the only purpose of know-how awareness and it does not compose as financial, business, or legal advice. However, I strive to provide correct and effective information, the knowledge presented here is not to consider as any kind of professional advice, and individuals should not depend only on this information.

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