Alliance calls for third-party ELD certification

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TORONTO, Ont. – The Canadian Trucking Alliance is once again stressing the need to have mandated electronic logging devices (ELDs) certified by third parties, helping to ensure the devices can’t be compromised.

The alliance says the final rule has been delayed because of a decision to retain qualified third parties to verify ELD devices meet standards being developed by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, rather than taking the U.S. approach of allowing suppliers to self-certify their equipment.

The alliance’s board were unanimous in supporting the position, after observing a presentation by the Guarantee Company of North America showed how easily self-certified devices can be edited to amend a driver’s hours of service record .

“Our preliminary investigation shows multiple self-certified devices in the U.S. marketplace have the capability to allow fleets and drivers to edit hours of service, specifically drive time. We believe there are thousands of these units installed in trucks currently travelling cross-border into the United States,” says Angelique Magi, the Guarantee’s national vice-president of transportation and strategic initiatives. “While we can’t speak for other insurers, I can tell you that when we discover these for devices within a customer’s fleet, we require they remove these devices or risk having their insurance cancelled mid-term for not meeting the U.S. federal regulations.”

Consequently, CTA also called for the final ELD rule to include federal and provincial penalties for any aftermarket tampering of third party-certified ELD equipment.

Several ELD and insurance providers have told the alliance that third-party certification requirements are largely developed.

“Both Transport Canada and the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety are strongly committed to getting this rule on the road and we hope they will work directly with the ELD suppliers to expedite the publishing of Gazette II,” said alliance president Stephen Laskowski.

The group had hoped Canadian rules would be harmonized with the U.S. by January 2020.

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John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.


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