Updated:
9/21/2009 10:00:00 AM
FMCSA Is Increasing Use of GPS Logs for HOS Audits, Qualcomm Exec Says
By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter
This article appears in the Sept. 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is increasing its use of Global Positioning System history logs as supporting evidence in driver hours-of-service audits, an executive with Qualcomm Inc. said last week.
Norm Ellis, Qualcomm’s vice president and general manager for transportation and logistics, said the company had “seen an uptick” in FMCSA’s use of electronic data in enforcement actions.
Electronic data, such as the position logs generated by GPS-based tracking systems and electronic onboard recorders, have been used by FMCSA since December, when it lifted a more than decade-old moratorium on using electronic data to verify hours. The agency now requires carriers using GPS tracking and EOBRs to retain data generated by these systems for six months.
FMCSA did not return calls to Transport Topics last week seeking comment. However, Ellis said the agency has increased its reliance on electronic records because carriers have had time since the policy change to accrue and store the electronic data.
Ellis spoke during a Sept. 16 webinar. Attendees included Qualcomm’s trucking customers, who were allowed to ask questions about their systems and record retention policies without disclosing their affiliation to other participants.
Ellis said the majority of Qualcomm’s customers had 14-day data retention periods — prior to the FMCSA policy change — because it was the factory default setting.
To help subscribers comply with FMCSA policy, the San Diego telematics provider said it is allowing carriers to extend the period for which Qualcomm retains backup data to six months at no additional cost.
Carriers using Qualcomm’s newer hours-of-service software, designed to comply with the new FMCSA mandate, need not make any changes to the data retention policies, Ellis said.
Also during the webinar, Ellis said many questions remain about electronic record retention, including the kinds of data that might be considered “electronic records” under current FMCSA policy.
Through a Qualcomm mediator, one carrier asked whether trucking companies are now required to retain records of so-called critical events, such as speeding and hard-braking, that are captured through Qualcomm’s onboard systems and reported to driver managers.
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