Under a new federal rule, truck drivers will have to switch from paper records to tracking their driving electronically.
The purpose of the rule is to make roads safer by forcing limits on the time drivers spend behind the wheel. Federal regulators argue that the electronic logging devices will help them force rules limiting how long drivers can remain on the road. If fact, many companies have already started using digital logs.
The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration limits drivers to a maximum of fourteen hours a shift during which they can only drive eleven hours. After that time drivers must take a ten hour break. Since driver fatigue is a cause of many tractor-trailer collisions, it is hoped that the new rule will make the roads safer.
