Logbook Compliance and Monitoring

Logbook Compliance and Monitoring

In accordance with Section 87 (1) and (2) of the federal legislation, carriers are required to monitor the logs of each driver for compliance to the Hours of Service Regulations and to report any remedial action taken with the drivers for violations found.

They must:

  • Evaluate all drivers to ensure they are complying with the regulations;
  • Record the date(s) in which any violation(s) occurred;
  • Record the date of issuance to the driver of a notice of non-compliance;
  • Record any remedial actions taken with the driver.

All carriers that have drivers who are authorized to drive NSC vehicles must review their driver logs for the following:

Fatigue – Driving over their regulated hours, not taking mandatory rest breaks or missing logs

Form and manner – visual violations such as signatures missing, duty status locations incorrect or missing, dates incorrect, not completing the log grid correctly, not completing the total kms driven etc.

Falsification – indicating they were off duty while fueling, keeping more than one log, tampering with the log etc.

Proper monitoring of logs includes comparing the log to supporting documents (such as fuel and lodging receipts) and any other relevant information.  This is done to test the accuracy of the log for falsification.

Carriers must document their findings to support any corrective or disciplinary action taken against a non-compliant driver. It is recommended that carriers check their driver’s logs as frequently as possible. Carriers should consider reviewing their driver’s logs on a monthly basis.

The number of drivers and logs checked by a carrier every month may vary according to the size of the company. A small company may choose to monitor all drivers’ logs every month, while a large company may choose only to monitor a portion of their drivers each month.

Although a carrier has the option to monitor a percentage of their drivers each month, every driver should be checked at least once each year. The objective of internal monitoring is to ensure all drivers become fully compliant every day – not just to document each driver’s performance.

In the event of an incident, carriers will be called upon to prove due diligence and have proof that their drivers are not fatigued while operating their units.

It is recommended that carriers closely monitor new drivers or drivers with a history of non-compliance until they can demonstrate that they understand and are able to comply with the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations.

Log book auditing/reviews can be done in house or can be sent to a third-party auditor for review and reporting.

How we help

We offer 3 levels of logbook auditing/reviews and reports on three different levels

Level 1 - A simple report that lists all violations and their regulatory codes
Level 2 - A detailed Report of all violations, their regulatory codes and an explanation of how the driver could have avoided the violation
Level 3 - A detailed Report of all violations, their regulatory codes and an explanation of how the driver could have avoided the violation plus a report of all falsifications found
The reports can then be reviewed with the driver and any corrective action taken can be recorded on the report for further review.

We also offer logbook review training for carriers that wish to do their own internal auditing and reviews. This training consists of a basic knowledge of hours of service as well as what to look for and how to write a proper report when reviewing the logs for fatigue, form and manner and falsification violations. This training can be taken remotely, in a classroom setting or is also available online.