DOT: No Data Behind Data Recorder Mandate

June 21, 2000 10:52 AM, EDT

The Department of Transportation says it has no data to support its call for using electronic data recorders to monitor whether long-haul and regional drivers are complying with federal hours-of-service regulations.

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“We have conducted no studies here because on-board recorders are part of other data-gathering devices,” Julie A. Cirillo, the chief safety officer at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said in a June 9 speech to transportation reporters at the National Press Club.

While the European Union conducted evaluations in the 1980s of tachographs used to ensure that drivers are not violating hours-of-service laws among its member nations, “in this country there are no studies,” Cirillo said.

A tachograph is a device mounted in a cab to automatically record miles driven, number of stops, speed and other factors during a trip. Truck operators in Europe are required to use them.

For the full story, see the June 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.