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O. Reg. 715/21: HOURS OF SERVICE

filed October 21, 2021 under Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8

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ontario regulation 715/21

made under the

Highway Traffic Act

Made: October 21, 2021
Filed: October 21, 2021
Published on e-Laws: October 22, 2021
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: November 6, 2021

Amending O. Reg. 555/06

(HOURS OF SERVICE)

1. (1) The definition of “daily log” in section 1 of Ontario Regulation 555/06 is revoked.

(2) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following definitions:

“electronic logging device” or “ELD” means a device or technology that automatically records a driver’s driving time and facilitates the recording of the driver’s duty status, and that is certified by an accredited certification body under section 79.1 of the federal regulations; (“dispositif de consignation électronique” ou “DCE”)

“federal regulations” means the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations made under the Motor Vehicle Transport Act (Canada), as amended from time to time; (“règlement fédéral”)

(3) The definition of “home terminal” in section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding “or temporary work site” at the end.

(4) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following definitions:

“record of duty status” means a daily log in which a driver records the information required under section 18 or 21, as the case may be, for each day; (“rapport d’activités”)

“supporting document” means a document or information, recorded and stored by any means, that could be used to determine compliance with this Regulation and includes any of the following documents or information:

1. Any electronic mobile communication record reflecting communications between a driver and a motor carrier.

2. Any payroll record, settlement sheet or equivalent document that indicates payments to the driver.

3. Any government-issued document indicating the location of the commercial motor vehicle.

4. Any reports, receipts, records, invoices or other documentation relating to the load of the commercial vehicle, including any bill of lading, itinerary, schedule or equivalent document that indicates the origin and destination of each trip.

5. Any reports, receipts, records, invoices or other documentation relating to the servicing, repairing, conditioning, fuelling, inspection or rental of the commercial motor vehicle.

6. Any reports, dispatch or trip records, receipts or other documentation indicating the date, time or location of the commercial motor vehicle or driver during a trip, including arrival and departure times; (“document justificatif”)

“Technical Standard” means the Technical Standard for Electronic Logging Devices, dated October 27, 2020, published by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, as amended from time to time, other than provision 4.5.1.11 (b) (9) and subject to subsection (2) of this section. (“norme technique”)

(5) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(2) For the purposes of this Regulation, in the Technical Standard,

(a) every reference to “HOS Regulations” shall be read as a reference to this Regulation; and

(b) in provision 3.1.8, “work shift” shall be read to refer to the elapsed time period described in subsection 9 (3) of this Regulation.

2. (1) Clause 2 (4) (e) of the Regulation is amended by striking out the portion before subclause (i) and substituting the following:

(e) an entry is made in the record of duty status or on the record required by subsection 23 (3),

. . . . .

(2) Section 2 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(6) For greater certainty, the category of duty status time referred to in paragraph 4 of subsection (1) includes when a driver is performing yard moves of a commercial motor vehicle within a terminal, depot or port without travelling on a highway.

3. Clause 7 (g) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “in the “Remarks” section of the daily log or on the record required by subsection 18 (3)” and substituting “in the record of duty status or in the record required by subsection 23 (3)”.

4. Clauses 8 (i), (j) and (k) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(i) be equipped to provide heating, cooling and ventilation within the range of household temperatures;

(j) be sealed against dust and rain;

(k) be equipped with a mattress that is at least 10 centimetres thick; and

5. Subsection 10 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “daily log” and substituting “record of duty status”.

6. (1) Subsection 11 (1) of the Regulation is revoked.

(2) Subsection 11 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “requirement” in the portion before clause (a) and substituting “requirements”.

(3) Clause 11 (2) (d) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(d) the driver does not drive again when,

(i) the total of the driving times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 13 hours,

(ii) the total of the on-duty times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 14 hours, and

(iii) the total of the elapsed times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 16 hours.

(4) Subsection 11 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “requirement” in the portion before clause (a) and substituting “requirements”.

(5) Clause 11 (3) (d) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(d) the driver does not drive again when,

(i) the total of the driving times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 13 hours,

(ii) the total of the on-duty times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 14 hours, and

(iii) the total of the elapsed times immediately before and after each sleeper berth period exceeds 16 hours.

(6) Subsection 11 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “in the “Remarks” section of the daily log” and substituting “in the record of duty status”.

7. Subsection 12 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “a 7-day or a 14-day cycle” and substituting “cycle 1 or cycle 2”.

8. (1) Subsection 13 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “a 7-day cycle” and substituting “cycle 1”.

(2) Subsections 13 (3) and (4) of the Regulation are amended by striking out “a 14-day cycle” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “cycle 2”.

9. (1) Subsection 14 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “a driver’s 7-day cycle and designate a new 7-day or 14-day cycle” and substituting “the cycle of a driver following cycle 1 and designate a new cycle”.

(2) Subsection 14 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “a driver’s 14-day cycle and designate a new 14-day or 7-day cycle” and substituting “the cycle of a driver following cycle 2 and designate a new cycle”.

10. Subsection 15 (3) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(3) If a driver increases their driving or on-duty times under subsection (1), the reason for the increase must be entered in the record of duty status or in the record required by subsection 23 (3).

11. (1) Sections 16 to 29 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

Record-Keeping

Records to be in local time

16. Every person that records time in a record of duty status or in the operator’s record required by subsection 23 (3) shall use the local time at the driver’s home terminal.

Record of duty status requirement

17. (1) Every driver of a commercial motor vehicle shall keep a record of duty status unless exempt under section 23.

(2) An operator shall require every driver of a commercial motor vehicle to keep a record of duty status unless exempt under section 23.

Electronic Logging Devices

ELD required

18. (1) An operator shall ensure that each commercial motor vehicle that it operates is equipped with an ELD that,

(a) meets the requirements of the Technical Standard;

(b) is mounted in a fixed position during the operation of the commercial motor vehicle;

(c) is visible to the driver when the driver is in the normal driving position; and

(d) is used only with an engine of a type for which the ELD was certified.

(2) A driver shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle that is not equipped with an ELD.

(3) The driver shall,

(a) record for each day, in accordance with this Regulation and the Technical Standard, all of the information required by this Regulation and the Technical Standard as their duty status changes; and

(b) manually input or verify the information set out in subsection (4) in the ELD of any commercial motor vehicle driven.

(4) The information referred to in clause (3) (b) is the following:

1. The date and the start time, if different from midnight.

2. The driver’s identification number.

3. The cycle that the driver is following.

4. The number plate of each commercial motor vehicle to be driven and each trailer to be drawn by the driver on the day.

5. The name of any operator by which the driver was employed or otherwise engaged during that day and the addresses of its home terminal and principal place of business.

6. The commercial motor vehicle’s location description, in accordance with subsection (5), if it is not automatically drawn from the ELD’s geo-location database.

7. If the driver was not required to keep a record of duty status immediately before the beginning of the day, the number of hours of off-duty time and on-duty time that were accumulated by the driver each day during the 14 days immediately before the beginning of the day.

8. Any deferral of off-duty time under section 7.

9. If the driver was working for more than one operator during the current day, the start and end times of each duty status in the current day, before the use of the ELD.

10. Any annotation necessary to complete the record of duty status.

(5) A location description referred to in paragraph 6 of subsection (4) shall include,

(a) the city, town, village or highway; and

(b) the province or state.

(6) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) do not apply to a commercial motor vehicle that is,

(a) driven by a driver who is exempt under section 23;

(b) a bus;

(c) a school bus within the meaning of section 175 of the Act;

(d) operated by an operator under a certificate issued under section 191 of the Act;

(e) the subject of a rental agreement of no longer than 30 days that is not an extended or renewed rental of the same vehicle;

(f) manufactured before model year 2000; or

(g) being driven for the purpose of sale or lease by a person in the business of selling, leasing or transporting vehicles, so long as the vehicle is unladen and is not drawing any other vehicle, other than an unladen motor vehicle with one or more sets of wheels on the surface of the roadway.

(7) No driver shall use more than one ELD at the same time for the same period.

(8) No operator shall request, require or allow a driver to drive a commercial motor vehicle without complying with subsections (2), (3) and (7).

(9) If an operator authorizes a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle for yard moves within a terminal, depot or port that is not on a highway, the operator shall ensure that the driver’s ELD has been configured so that the driver can indicate those moves.

(10) An operator shall create and maintain a system of accounts for ELDs that is in compliance with the Technical Standard and that,

(a) allows each driver to record their record of duty status in a distinct and personal account; and

(b) provides for a distinct account for the driving time and on-duty time of an unidentified driver.

(11) The operator shall ensure that each commercial motor vehicle that it operates that is required to be equipped with an ELD carries an ELD information packet containing a current version of the following documents:

1. A user’s manual.

2. An instruction sheet for the driver describing the data transfer mechanisms supported by the ELD and the steps required to generate and transfer the data with respect to the driver’s hours of service to an inspector.

3. An instruction sheet describing the measures the driver shall take if the ELD malfunctions.

4. A sufficient number of records of duty status forms to allow the driver to record the information required under section 21 for at least 15 days.

Malfunctions

19. (1) An operator shall ensure that any ELD that is installed or used in a commercial motor vehicle that it operates is in good working order and is calibrated and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s or seller’s specifications.

(2) If a driver of a commercial motor vehicle becomes aware that the ELD is displaying a malfunction code set out in Table 4 of Schedule 2 of the Technical Standard, the driver shall notify the operator that is operating the commercial motor vehicle as soon as the vehicle is parked.

(3) The driver shall record, in the record of duty status on the day on which they became aware of the malfunction code,

(a) the malfunction code as set out in Table 4 of Schedule 2 of the Technical Standard;

(b) the date and time when the malfunction code was noticed; and

(c) the time when notification of the malfunction code was transmitted to the operator.

(4) The driver shall record the code referred to in clause (3) (a) in each record of duty status following the day on which the code was noticed, until the ELD is repaired or replaced.

(5) An operator shall, within 14 days after the day on which it is notified of an ELD malfunction code by the driver or otherwise becomes aware of the malfunction code or, at the latest, upon return of the driver to the home terminal from a planned trip if that return exceeds the 14-day period, repair or replace the ELD.

(6) The operator shall maintain a register of malfunctions in ELDs installed or used in commercial motor vehicles that it operates that contains the following information:

1. The name of the driver who noticed the malfunction code.

2. The name of each driver that used the commercial motor vehicle following the discovery of the malfunction code and before the ELD was repaired or replaced.

3. The make, model and serial number of the ELD.

4. The licence plate or Vehicle Identification Number of the commercial motor vehicle in which the ELD is installed or used.

5. The date when the malfunction code was noticed and the location of the commercial motor vehicle on that date.

6. The date when the operator was notified or otherwise became aware of the malfunction code.

7. The date when the ELD was repaired or replaced.

8. A concise description of the actions taken by the operator to repair or replace the ELD.

(7) The operator shall retain the information set out in subsection (6) for each ELD with respect to which a malfunction code was noticed for a period of six months after the day on which the ELD is replaced or repaired.

Certification of accuracy

20. (1) A driver that completes a record of duty status using an ELD shall, immediately after recording the last entry for a day, certify the accuracy of their record of duty status.

(2) An operator shall,

(a) verify the accuracy of the certified records of duty status that are forwarded by the driver by comparing them to the supporting documents; and

(b) require from the driver those changes necessary to ensure the accuracy of the records.

(3) The driver shall,

(a) either accept or reject the changes required by the operator;

(b) make any necessary changes;

(c) re-certify the accuracy of their records of duty status; and

(d) forward the amended records of duty status to the operator.

Records of Duty Status not made by ELD

Records of duty status required

21. (1) An operator shall require every driver to fill out, and every driver shall fill out, a record of duty status that meets the requirements of this section and section 22 if,

(a) the driver is driving a commercial motor vehicle as set out in clauses 18 (6) (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g); or

(b) the ELD on the commercial motor vehicle the driver is driving is displaying a malfunction set out in Table 4 of Schedule 2 of the Technical Standard.

(2) A driver shall, at the start of each day, enter the following information in the record of duty status:

1. The driver’s name.

2. The date.

3. The name of the driver’s co-drivers, if any.

4. The start time of the day being recorded, if the day does not start at midnight.

5. The cycle that the driver is following.

6. The odometer reading, at the start of the day, of the commercial motor vehicle to be operated by the driver.

7. The number of hours of on-duty time and the number of hours of off-duty time that the driver accumulated each day during the 14 days immediately before the start of the day for which the driver was exempt from this Regulation and not required to keep a record of duty status, recorded in the record of duty status.

8. The number plate of each commercial motor vehicle to be driven and each trailer to be drawn by the driver on the day.

9. The name of the operator for whom the driver is to drive during the day.

10. The addresses of the driver’s home terminal and of the principal place of business of the operator for whom the driver is to drive during the day.

(3) A record of duty status under this section must include a duty status graph grid that is in,

(a) the form titled “Duty Status Graph Grid” in English, dated 2021/07 and available on the website of the Government of Ontario Central Forms Repository; or

(b) the form titled “Grille d’activités” in French, dated 2021/07 and available on the website of the Government of Ontario Central Forms Repository.

(4) A driver shall, over the course of each day, enter the following information in the record of duty status:

1. The start and end times for each duty status during the day.

2. Each city, town, village or highway location and the province or state where the driver’s duty status changes.

(5) The information referred to in subsection (4) must be complete up to the time at which the last change of driver’s duty status occurred.

(6) A driver shall, at the end of each day, enter the following information in the record of duty status:

1. The total time spent in each duty status during the day.

2. The odometer reading at the end of the day.

3. The total distance driven by the driver.

(7) A driver is not required to record the information described in paragraph 7 of subsection (2) for any day for which the driver carries copies of the records required to be kept by the operator under subsection 23 (3).

(8) If the driver is on duty within a municipality such that a number of periods of driving time are interrupted by a number of periods of other on-duty time of less than one hour each,

(a) instead of recording the information described in paragraph 1 of subsection (4), the periods of driving time may be combined and the periods of other on-duty time may be combined;

(b) the driver is not required to record the information described in paragraph 2 of subsection (4) with respect to the periods that have been combined under clause (a); and

(c) the driver shall enter on the duty status graph grid the municipality in which he or she is on duty.

Format of record of duty status under s. 21

22. (1) If the record of duty status required by section 21 is handwritten,

(a) the entries required must be made legibly; and

(b) the driver shall sign each page at the end of the day, attesting to the accuracy of the information recorded on it.

(2) If a record of duty status required by section 21 is in electronic format, the driver must be capable of,

(a) printing the record of duty status in an understandable format; or

(b) preparing a handwritten version of the record of duty status from the information recorded in the computer.

Exception to record of duty status requirement

23. (1) A driver is not required to keep a record of duty status for a day if the driver,

(a) on the operator’s instructions, drives a commercial motor vehicle solely within a radius of 160 kilometres of the location at which the driver starts the day; and

(b) returns at the end of the day to the same location from which they started.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a driver who,

(a) drives under a certificate issued under section 191 of the Act; or

(b) works for more than one operator in a day.

(3) If a driver, in accordance with subsection (1), is not required to keep a record of duty status for a day, the operator shall keep a record for the day showing,

(a) the date, the driver’s name and the location at which the driver starts and ends the day;

(b) the cycle that the driver is following;

(c) the hour at which each duty status starts and ends and the total number of hours spent in each duty status; and

(d) the number of hours of on-duty time and the number of hours of off-duty time that the driver accumulated each day during the 14 days immediately before the start of the day, for which the driver was exempt from this Regulation and not required to keep a record of duty status.

(4) For the purpose of clause (3) (c), if the driver is on duty within a municipality such that a number of periods of driving time are interrupted by a number of periods of other on-duty time of less than one hour each, the periods of driving time may be combined and the periods of other on-duty time may be combined.

Production, Forwarding and Retention of Documents

Production of records to inspector

24. (1) Unless exempt under section 23 from keeping a record of duty status, a driver shall carry, and surrender upon request of an inspector, the following documents in accordance with subsections (2) to (5):

1. Records of duty status for the current day and the preceding 14 days.

2. The supporting documents for the current trip.

3. In the case of a commercial motor vehicle equipped with an ELD, an ELD information packet containing the documents required under subsection 18 (11).

(2) If a supporting document is carried in electronic format, the driver must be capable of,

(a) producing,

(i) an electronic display that is readable and understandable from outside of the vehicle, or

(ii) a printout; and

(b) transmitting the document by electronic means.

(3) A document surrendered under subsection (1) shall be surrendered in its existing format unless the document cannot be read and understood by the inspector in its existing format, in which case the driver shall surrender a readable and understandable version of the document.

(4) Despite subsection (3), a driver who carries a record of duty status not made by an ELD that is in electronic format shall comply with a request to surrender the record made under subsection (1) by,

(a) printing the record or preparing a handwritten version of it;

(b) dating and signing each page to attest to the accuracy of the information recorded on it; and

(c) transmitting the record by the electronic means requested by the inspector, if the driver has the technical capacity to do so.

(5) If a document requested by the inspector under subsection (1) is a record of duty status made by an ELD under section 18 or a supporting document that is in electronic format, the driver shall produce an electronic display that is readable and understandable from outside of the vehicle or a printout of the record or document and, if requested by the inspector to transmit them electronically, shall transmit them by the transfer method identified by the inspector.

Forwarding record of duty status to operator

25. (1) A driver shall,

(a) if the record of duty status was made using an ELD, forward the supporting documents relating to that record to a place of business of the operator within 20 days; or

(b) if the record of duty status was not made using an ELD, forward the record of duty status and supporting documents relating to that record to a place of business of the operator within 20 days.

(2) An operator shall ensure that every driver complies with subsection (1).

Retention of documents by operator

26. (1) An operator shall,

(a) deposit each record of duty status and its supporting documents at its principal place of business within 30 days after receiving them; and

(b) keep, for at least six months, at its principal place of business,

(i) all the records of duty status and supporting documents for each driver, in chronological order,

(ii) the records required under subsection 23 (3) in respect of each driver, and

(iii) the records required under section 29.

(2) Despite subsection (1), an operator may keep a record or document that is in electronic format at any place if,

(a) the record or document can be readily accessed by the operator from the operator’s principal place of business;

(b) a readable and understandable display of the information in the record or document can be produced at the operator’s principal place of business; and

(c) the operator would, from the operator’s principal place of business, be able to comply with a requirement that the record or document be stored or transmitted in a particular way in accordance with subsection 225 (2.3) of the Act.

(3) The following rules apply with respect to an operator who possesses a record of duty status, supporting document or record in electronic format:

1. If an officer appointed for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Act requires the operator to generate a printed copy of the record of duty status, supporting document or record, the operator shall do so if the operator has the technical capacity to do so.

2. If an officer appointed for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Act requires that the record of duty status, supporting document or record be stored or transmitted in a particular way in accordance with subsection 225 (2.3) of the Act, the operator shall store or transmit the record of duty status, supporting document or record in accordance with the officer’s requirement.

Multiple operators

27. (1) If a driver works for more than one operator in a day, the driver shall,

(a) enter in the record of duty status the name of each operator and the address of the principal place of business of each operator;

(b) designate in the record of duty status one operator as the principal operator; and

(c) for the purpose of subsection 25 (1),

(i) forward the original record of duty status to a place of business of the principal operator and a copy of the record of duty status to a place of business of each of the other operators, and

(ii) forward the supporting documents to a place of business of the operator to whom they relate.

(2) For the purpose of section 4, the designation of the hour at which a driver’s day starts shall be made by the principal operator.

(3) For the purpose of subsection 12 (1), the designation of cycle 1 or cycle 2 shall be made by the principal operator.

(4) Section 23 does not apply where a driver works for more than one operator in a day.

Integrity of records of duty status

28 (1) No person shall enter inaccurate information in a record of duty status or a record required by subsection 23 (3) or falsify, mutilate or deface any such record or any supporting documents.

(2) No person shall disable, deactivate, disengage, jam or otherwise block or degrade a signal transmission or reception or re-engineer, reprogram or otherwise tamper with an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain the data that is required to be recorded and retained.

(3) An operator shall not request, require or allow a person to contravene this section.

Operators to monitor drivers’ compliance

29. (1) An operator shall monitor each driver’s compliance with this Regulation.

(2) If an operator determines that a driver has failed to comply with any provision of this Regulation, the operator shall take immediate remedial action and shall record the details of the non-compliance and of the remedial action.

(2) Clause 18 (6) (b) of the Regulation, as made by subsection (1), is revoked.

(3) Clause 21 (1) (a) of the Regulation, as made by subsection (1), is amended by striking out “18 (6) (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g)” and substituting “18 (6) (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g)”.

12. Form 1 to the Regulation is revoked.

Commencement

13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Regulation comes into force on later of June 12, 2022 and the day it is filed.

(2) Subsections 11 (2) and (3) come into force on July 1, 2023.

 

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