Though Hours of Service regulations (HOS) remain a political hot potato in the U.S., key players in Canada have reached a consensus on truck driver safety rules for operation of inter-provincial commercial vehicles. Three major Canadian transportation organizations have agreed on modifications in the country's existing HOS regulations.
Transport Canada, Teamsters Canada and the Canadian Trucking Alliance are in accord on proposed new regulations that will limit drivers of commercial vehicles to 13 hours of driving and 14 hours on-duty per 24-hour period.
The new rules include a 25% increase in offduty time during a 24-hour period, up from eight to 10 hours. On-duty times have been reduced by 12%, from 16 to 14 hours, and rules lower the maximum daily driving time for drivers by 19%, from 16 to 13 hours during each 24-hour period.
This agreement is a major step toward finalizing the HOS regulations for Canada that were first proposed in February 2003. Subsequent to that proposal, Transport Canada received more than 50 comments and continues to review these submissions.
