The Canadian Trucking Alliance and Teamsters Canada have reached an agreement on proposed changes to the Canadian commercial vehicle driver hours of service (HOS) rules. This agreement revolves around capping the maximum number of hours drivers could operate their vehicle within a single shift. The two organizations would like to see this limit set at 13 hours.
The proposal currently awaiting review by a House of Commons committee doesn't distinguish between hours worked and hours driven and consequently makes it technically possible to drive for 14 consecutive hours.
In a joint communiqué sent to Canada's ministers of transport, the two organizations state that they will now be able to put forward a common position on proposed revisions to the commercial vehicle driver HOS rules.
The two organizations agree that:
The distinction between driving and the performance of other work should be maintained for purposes of setting limits on a driver's time on duty.
A driver should log no more than 14 hours on duty before taking at least eight consecutive hours off duty, provided that a driver takes at least 20 hours off duty within a 48-hour period.
Within this 14-hour on-duty period, no more than 13 hours should be spent driving.
All other elements of the proposed revisions to the HOS standard, as detailed in the November 1999 discussion paper prepared by Transport Canada for the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), should be enacted by federal and provincial governments at the earliest opportunity.
