Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations and a Related Amendment (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2020-240
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 154, Number 24
Registration
SOR/2020-240 November 3, 2020
MOTOR VEHICLE TRANSPORT ACT
P.C. 2020-849 October 30, 2020
Whereas, pursuant to subsection 16.1(1) footnote a of the Motor Vehicle Transport Act footnote b, the Minister of Transport has consulted with the provinces affected by the annexed Regulations;
Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, pursuant to subsection 16.1(1)footnote a of the Motor Vehicle Transport Act footnote b, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations and a Related Amendment (Miscellaneous Program).
Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations and a Related Amendment (Miscellaneous Program)
Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations
1 Subsections 1.1(2) to (4) of the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations footnote 1 are repealed.
2 Section 10 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
10 If a driver who has, at the request of the motor carrier by whom the driver is employed or otherwise engaged, spent time travelling as a passenger, by any mode of transportation, to the destination at which the driver will begin driving takes 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time before beginning to drive, the time spent as a passenger shall be counted as off-duty time.
3 Paragraph 79(c) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- (c) the validity of their testing methodology and the validity of the results of that methodology.
4 (1) Paragraph 91(1)(b) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- b) le conducteur ne se conforme pas à l’une des exigences relatives aux heures de conduite ou aux heures de repos prévues aux articles 12 à 29 et 39 à 54 ou par une condition du permis;
(2) Paragraph 91(1)(e) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- e) le conducteur a falsifié, abîmé, caviardé, modifié, effacé, détruit ou mutilé une fiche journalière ou un document justificatif de telle façon que le directeur ou l’inspecteur ne peut établir si le conducteur s’est conformé aux exigences relatives aux heures de conduite et aux heures de repos prévues aux articles 12 à 29 et 39 à 54 ou par une condition du permis.
(3) Paragraph 91(3)(e) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- (e) for the number of hours needed to correct the failure, if the driver fails to comply with the off-duty time requirements of any of sections 14 to 29 and 41 to 54 or of a term or condition of a permit or with the requirements of section 98.
Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (Electronic Logging Devices and Other Amendments)
5 Subsection 37(4) of the French version of the Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (Electronic Logging Devices and Other Amendments) footnote 2 is amended by replacing the paragraph 91(1)(f) that it enacts with the following:
- f) le conducteur utilise un DCE dont la transmission ou la réception d’un signal est mise hors d’usage, désactivée, bloquée ou réduite de quelque façon ou un DCE modifié, reprogrammé ou falsifié de quelque façon de manière à ce que le DCE n’enregistre pas les données exigées avec exactitude et ne les consigne pas, de telle façon que le directeur ou l’inspecteur ne peut établir si le conducteur s’est conformé aux exigences relatives aux heures de conduite et aux heures de repos prévues aux articles 12 à 29 et 39 à 54 ou par une condition du permis.
Coming into Force
6 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issues
As a result of amendments to the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (the Regulations) on June 12, 2019, the need for a number of minor technical amendments to these Regulations has been identified. Some regulatory provisions were identified as either vague or misaligned with the Hours of Service Standard 9 (Standard 9) under the National Safety Code (NSC) for motor carriers, or a duplication with the Technical Standard (TS) for Electronic Logging Device (ELD) published by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). In addition, the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) has requested a clarification in the Regulations.
Standard 9
It is important that the Regulations align with the NSC’s Standard 9 to promote consistency and avoid confusion within the provincial enforcement community. The enforcement community identified an inconsistency between the prescribed driver repositioning provision in the Regulations with the NSC’s Standard 9. The Regulations provide an exception where the time spent repositioning a driver can be recorded as off-duty rather than on-duty time, but only if the repositioning is done in a commercial vehicle, whereas the Standard 9 exception provides more flexibility by allowing the repositioning to occur in any mode of transportation (e.g. ferry, rail, transit, car or air) and not just in commercial vehicles.
Technical Standard for Electronic Logging Device
The TS is incorporated by reference in the Regulations. Some needed modifications to the TS were identified (e.g. correcting references and Coordinated Universal Time [UTC] time zone offset values), but could not be corrected by the CCMTA before the Regulations were published. As a result, the correct references and numbers were addressed through modified interpretation provisions set out in subsections 1.1(2) to 1.1(4) of the Regulations to provide further clarification and ensure consistency. The CCMTA has now made the changes to the TS, making these provisions in the Regulations redundant.
Clarifications
The SCC advised Transport Canada that the process to accredit certification bodies (any person or body that wishes to be accredited to certify an Electronic Logging Device) needs to be clarified to focus the certification bodies’ methodology on “testing” rather than “certification,” as prescribed in the Regulations. This clarification is crucial to better reflect an accurate testing protocol.
Objective
The objectives of the Regulations Amending the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (hereinafter referred to as “the amendments”) are to
- eliminate an unnecessary duplication of text in the Regulations and the TS;
- align with the NSC’s Standard 9 to ensure that federal regulations are consistently enforced by the provinces and territories, and to better reflect current industry practice;
- clarify the requirements for the accreditation process of certification bodies;
- correct an erroneous cross-reference to add clarity to the regulatory provisions; and
- correct discrepancies between the French and English versions.
Description and rationale
There are five non-substantive amendments to improve clarity and consistency in the Regulations:
- 1. Repeal the provision referencing certain exceptions to the TS. Since changes were made to the TS, this provision is no longer needed.
- 2. Replace the term “in a commercial vehicle” with “by any mode of transportation” in the provision that applies to commercial vehicle drivers regarding their on-duty time. This amendment will not create any new requirements for drivers; it better reflects the industry’s current practice and aligns with NSC’s Standard 9.
- 3. Replace “certification” with “testing” in a provision that outlines the requirements for the accreditation process of Electronic Logging Device certification bodies. This amendment will not create any new requirements for the certification bodies, but is necessary to clarify that the requirements for accreditation are focussed on the certification bodies’ methodology for testing rather than certification, which takes place after the testing has been successfully completed.
- 4. Correct an invalid section reference to section 40 (a repealed section) in paragraph 91(3)(e).
- 5. The word “of” is repeated before “any of sections 14 to 29 or 41 to 54” and before “a term or condition of a permit” in four provisions of the English regulatory text, meaning that it speaks to the failure to comply with the off-duty time requirements of a term or condition of a permit. However, in the French regulatory text, it speaks to any term or condition of a permit. The vagueness of the French text could cause confusion, as it does not fully correspond to the English version. These minor amendments need to be made to the following paragraphs: 91(1)(b), 91(1)(e), 91(3)(e), and provision 91(1)(f). Provision 91(1)(f) will come into force on June 12, 2021.
The amendments are expected to benefit certification bodies and ELD providers, motor carriers and drivers, and the enforcement community by eliminating the confusion caused by some vague wording and discrepancies. No additional costs will be imposed on the regulated community, as these amendments are housekeeping in nature.
One-for-one rule and small business lens
The one-for-one rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to businesses.
The small business lens does not apply, as the amendments do not carry any cost impacts for small businesses.
Contact
Jean-Michel Roy
Acting Manager
Standards and Regulations
Multimodal and Road Safety Programs
Transport Canada
Telephone: 343‑542‑8928
Email: Regulationsclerk-ASFB-Commisauxreglements@tc.gc.ca