Within the Province of Alberta Commercial Carriers are required to obtain a Safety Fitness Certificate and their regulated drivers are subject to drivers’ hours of service regulations. Since the Regulation changes that took place in Jan 2007 there is still much confusion regarding the Local and Long Haul requirements for HOS and for maintaining log books. In most cases, drivers are required to complete a driver’s daily log to verify the hours they have worked are within the limits prescribed under regulation. These daily logs must be retained for 6 months.
Carriers must comply with either Federal or Provincial regulations.
Local Drivers (that operate solely within Alberta) follow the Provincial Drivers HOS Regulation. Carriers that are provincially regulated should display a Provincial Operating status.
Local Hours of Service Provincial Regulations can be reviewed at:
www.transportation.alberta.ca/525.htm
Highlights include:
• Drivers are not to exceed 13 hours of Driving time*Adverse weather conditions exceptions are outlined in detail within the regulations.
• Drivers are not to exceed 15 hours of on duty time.
• A driver may not be permitted to begin a work shift unless the driver has been off duty for 8 consecutive hours prior to starting the work shift.
• The requirements are to keep a daily log, however to be exempt from keeping a daily log there are requirements outlined in section 10 (1) – 10 (4). Further, the confusion for local operators regarding the requirement of maintaining logs is detailed in section 12 (1)-(2). The regulation specifically states in order to be exempt from maintaining a log book you must:
Daily log not required
12(1) Notwithstanding sections 9 and 10, a daily log is not
required to be maintained where all of the following conditions
exist:
(a) the driver does not operate beyond a radius of 160 km
from the home terminal of that driver;
(b) the driver returns to the home terminal and is released
from work within 15 hours from the commencement of
the driver’s work shift;
(c) the carrier that employs the driver maintains and retains
for a period of 6 months accurate time records showing
the time that the driver reports to commence the driver’s
work shift and the time that the driver is released from
work.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if one or more of the
conditions under which a person is excused from maintaining a
daily log ceases to exist,
(a) the carrier shall, on that condition ceasing to exist, comply
with section 9 or 10, as the case may be, and
(b) the driver shall,
(i) on that condition ceasing to exist, commence keeping
a daily log, and
(ii) record in the daily log the total number of hours on
duty accumulated by the driver during the 7 days
immediately preceding the day on which that
condition ceased to exist.
Extracted from Alberta Traffic Safety Act 317/2002
Detailed HOS rules and log book requirements are all clearly outlined in the Regulations and are readily accessible by clicking on the link above. It is strongly suggested that reviewing the act will outline all requirements, exemptions and detailed requirements to ensure you are operating within the specified guidelines.
The Federal drivers’ hours of service regulation applies to carriers that operate both inside and outside of Alberta. These carriers’ Safety Fitness Certificate MUST display a Federal Operating Status.
Carriers operating under the federal regulations must monitor the compliance of their drivers, take appropriate action and prepare documents of this monitoring process.
Once a carrier is federally regulated, all of their regulated drivers must comply with the federal regulations, even those drivers that never leave Alberta.
It is critical that carriers operate under the appropriate Operating Status and appropriate hours of service regulations. Carriers operating under the wrong legislation may be charged with an offence or issued an administrative penalty.
The next issue will elaborate on the application of the Federal hours of service regulation for Alberta Long Haul drivers.
