BIRMINGHAM, AL. Bill Graves, president & CEO of the American Trucking Assns. (ATA), addressed the use of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) and the ever-worsening driver shortage here at the McLeod Software user conference.

Graves said that while the industry continues to support the voluntary use of EOBRs by carriers, without a link between the use of black boxes and measurable safety improvements, they should not be mandated.

“There needs to be a correlation between the information gathered by a black box and any subsequent improvement in safety,” Graves said during the keynote speech. “My gut tells me that, at this point, research by the FMCSA is going to fall short of mandating EOBRs.”

He added that having data to support any safety mandate is also a two-way street. “For example, we are trying to find a way to give drivers more flexibility under current HOS [hours of service] rules to stop when they are tired without it costing them time to drive,” Graves said. “But the FMCSA won’t agree to that unless we have more data to back up the safety advantage to that move.”

Finding a way to increase the available pool of truck drivers is another big concern as, according to ATA’s own research, the industry will be short 120,000 drivers a year by 2014. “We’re treading very carefully in the area of creating an environment where a high school graduate can enter our industry through a mentor or apprenticeship program,” he said.

Currently, federal rules stipulate that CDL holders must be at least 21 years of age. “We are not advocating that an 18-year-old be put behind the wheel of a Class 8 truck,” Graves stressed. “But we need to find a way to create an intermediate step to get them involved in truck driving earlier [than age 21] before we lose them to another industry, such as the building trades.”

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