Drive smarter on ELDs

ELDs have been tough on the Industry,  the big and giants don't complain, they always find someone to do the job, but it's the ones doing the jobs that are affected most: Owner Operators, Small and medium trucking companies from fleet sizes varying 1 to 20 trucks. They make up the biggest chunk of the industry.

According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) about 90% of carriers in Canada have fewer than 20 trucks, while about 50% of carriers have fewer than 5trucks. While there are a small number of carriers with very large fleets (e.g., 500 or more trucks), these companies make up a relatively small proportion of the overall trucking industry in Canada. In 2019, the CTA reported that there were only 200 carriers in Canada with fleets of 100 or more trucks, and that these carriers accounted for less than 5% of the total number of carriers in Canada.

Overall, the trucking industry in Canada is characterized by a large number ofrelatively small carriers, with the majority of carriers having fewer than 20 trucks.

According to Transport Canada, there are approximately 151,500 federally regulated commercial carriers operating in Canada. This includes carriers that operate one or more CMVs with a GVWR or GCWR of 4,500 kgor more, which are subject to ELD requirements.

Inaddition, there are many provincially regulated carriers that may also be subject to ELD requirements, depending on the regulations in their province or territory.

Overall, it is estimated that ELD requirements in Canada apply to a significant number of commercial trucks and units, although the exact number may vary depending on a variety offactors.

So how can the 90% of the chunk win in this space? How canthey manage hours better?

Theanswer lies in the Transport Canada HOS regulations:

In Canada, the hours of service (HOS) regulations for commercial truck drivers are governed by the National Safety Code (NSC) Standard 13. The HOS regulations aredesigned to ensure that drivers are well-rested and alert while operating their vehicles.

The maximum driving time allowed for a driver in Canada is 13 hours per day, with amaximum of 70 hours in any 7-day period. After 13 hours of driving, the drivermust take a break of at least 8 consecutive hours before starting their next shift. In addition, drivers must have a daily off-duty period of at least 10 consecutive hours.

Most companies do not use Split sleep which might be a life savior, a feature that can do wonders.

Using Split Sleep in Canada

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Split sleep is a HOS provision that allows drivers to divide their daily off-dutytime into two or more separate periods. The purpose of split sleep is toprovide drivers with the flexibility to rest when they need it most. Splitsleep can be used in two ways: as a sleeper berth provision and as a cumulative off-duty provision.

As a sleeper berth provision, split sleep allows drivers to split their required 10-hour off-duty period into two periods, provided that neither period is less than 2 hours. One of the periods must be at least 8 consecutive hours in asleeper berth, while the other period can be spent in the sleeper berth oroff-duty.

As a cumulative off-duty provision, split sleep allows drivers to accumulate off-duty time during the day and use it to reduce their required 10-hour off-duty period. Drivers can accumulate up to 2 hours of off-duty time during the day, which can be used to reduce their required 10-hour off-duty period toas little as 8 hours.

There are several different split sleep rules in Canada, depending on the specific situation. Some of the key rules include:

1. A driver can use the sleeper berth provision for  split sleep once per day.
2. If a driver uses the sleeper berth provision for split sleep, they must take at least 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time before they can use it again.
3. If a driver uses the cumulative off-duty provision for split sleep, they must take at least 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time before they can use it again.
4. If a driver uses the cumulative off-duty provision for split sleep, they must have at least 2 hours of off-duty time before they can use it to reduce their required 10-hour off-duty period.
5. If a driver accumulates more than 2 hours of off-duty time during the day, they can only use 2 hours of it to reduce their required off-duty period.
6. If a driver accumulates more than 2 hours of off-duty time during the day, they can carry over the extra time to the next day, up to a maximum of 2 hours.

ELDs operate on the same premises with some ELDs like HutchSystems Inc. offering Drivers and Companies- use of the split sleep feature,including ELD exemptions that apply to certain provincial carriers.

It is important for commercialtruck drivers to understand the HOS regulations and the different split sleeprules in Canada to ensure they are operating within the legal limits andgetting the rest they need to stay safe on the road.