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Copyright 2023 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.
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The federal hours of service regulations apply to federal-status carriers.
Alberta has implemented enforcement of the federal electronic logging device (ELD) mandate for federal-status carriers effective January 1, 2023. . Alberta has hours of service exemption permits available for both provincial and federal-status carriers. Visit http://tinyurl.com/ABhospermits for more information on the permits and their associated requirements.
The following hours of service information pertains to provincial-status carriers in the province.
Application
The requirements apply to the drivers of vehicles with a registered gross weight of 11,794 kilograms or more, or drivers of buses with a seating capacity of more than 10, including the driver, with the exception of:
- Public vehicle or combination of public vehicles exempted by the Alberta Transportation Safety Board;
- Public vehicle or combination of public vehicles providing disaster relief by transporting passengers or goods;
- Emergency vehicles such as any fire-fighting vehicle, ambulance, police vehicle, or other vehicle that is used for the purpose of an emergency;
- Recreational vehicles;
- Urban transit buses providing local service;
- Any vehicle primarily transporting agricultural products where the driver is a bona fide farmer who owns or produced the agricultural product, or is an employee of that farmer;
- Any two- or three- axle vehicle that is primarily used for the transportation of primary products of a forest, lake or river, where the driver or the driver’s employer is the producer of those primary products; or
- Vehicles equipped with a mounted mobile service rig or equipment that is directly used in the operation of a mounted mobile service rig.
Limitations
The time that a driver spends driving or doing work-related activities is referred to as “hours of service” or “on duty” time and includes the time spent:
- Checking in or preparing reports at the beginning or end of a work shift;
- Inspecting, servicing, repairing, conditioning or starting a vehicle;
- Driving a vehicle;
- Traveling as a co-driver (unless time is spent in the sleeper berth);
- Participating in loading or unloading the vehicle;
- Inspecting or checking the load;
- Waiting, at the request of the carrier, for the vehicle to be serviced, loaded or unloaded;
- Waiting for the vehicle or load to be inspected at an inspection check point, weigh scale or customs office;
- Traveling as a passenger in a vehicle, at the request of the carrier, to a work assignment when the driver has not been off duty for at least eight consecutive hours immediately prior to departure;
- Waiting en route because of an accident involving the vehicle the driver operates or other unplanned event; and
- At the request of the motor carrier by whom the driver is employed or otherwise engaged, waiting in readiness for work at any place other than a private residence, or a motel, hotel or other similar place of rest, where the accommodation is provided by the motor carrier.
The regulations stipulate that a driver may not drive for more than 13 hours or after being on duty 15 hours, without first taking a minimum of eight consecutive hours off duty. The eight hour off duty period can be taken in two separate periods (if taken in the sleeper berth), providing that neither period is less than two hours and the total of the two periods is not less than eight hours. When this is done, the aggregate of driving time immediately before and after each period in the sleeper berth cannot exceed 13 hours.
Once every seven days, the driver may reduce the eight-hour off duty period to as little as four consecutive hours by adding the reduced hours to the next eight-hour off duty time. This option requires that the driver’s on duty time immediately preceding the off duty time does not exceed 15 hours. The Board may prohibit this exception if the reduction in off duty time is thought likely to jeopardize the safety or health of the driver or the general public.
The cumulative time hour rule does not apply to drivers operating point-to-point in Alberta.
Time breaks
A driver is required to take a break of 10 consecutive minutes off duty or non-driving time following four consecutive hours of driving, or 30 minutes after six consecutive hours of driving.
Emergency exception
Certain situations may allow a driver to exceed the prescribed duty limits. A driver delayed by an emergency (where the safety of an occupant, the goods, or the vehicle itself is in jeopardy, the driver may exceed hours to get to a place of safety), for instance, may continue to a place of safety. He may also exceed the allowable hours by two hours for unexpected adverse driving conditions. If the trip, as originally planned, could have been completed within the driver’s allowable hours.
Recordkeeping
Drivers are required to maintain daily logs to document their duty status for each 24 hour period. Drivers must account for all calendar days. Although a specific format has not been mandated, daily logs must be handwritten in duplicate and include a graph grid in the form set out in the schedule plus the following information:
- Date;
- Driver’s name and signature;
- Starting time and location for that period;
- Name of each carrier for whom the driver worked that day;
- Main office and home terminal address of each carrier;
- Co-driver’s name, if applicable;
- Vehicle’s unit or licence plate numbers;
- Beginning odometer reading;
- Total distance driven by the driver in kilometres (or miles) during the work day;
- Where the vehicle is operated by co-drivers, the total hours that the vehicle traveled during the work day;
- A graph grid with remarks section;
- Total time spent in each duty status; and
- Location where each duty status change occurred.
While on the road, the driver is required to have in his/her possession the original and duplicate log for the current shift (completed to the time shown for the last change of duty status), as well as logs for the two previous days if for point-to-point operations within Alberta. The driver should also have available for inspection purposes all bills of lading, shipping documents, and fuel and accommodation receipts for expenses incurred en route.
Automatic recorders
An on-board recording device may be used to satisfy the log book requirement if the driver can, in a manner approved by the Registrar, display or print out the information recorded by the device. This record must be signed by the driver to be considered valid.
If the recording device malfunctions or ceases to operate, the driver must maintain a written duty status record, as described above.
Recordkeeping exemptions
A driver is exempt from maintaining a log book if:
- He/She does not operate beyond a 160 kilometre radius of his home terminal;
- He/She returns there and is released within 15 hours of start time; and
- The carrier maintains, for a period of six months, an accurate record of the time a driver starts and finishes each work shift.
If one of these conditions is no longer met, the driver becomes subject to the logging requirements and must enter into his/her log the total hours of on duty time for the previous seven consecutive days.
Record distribution
Where the driver works for more than one carrier, he/she must forward copies of his daily log to each of the carriers for which he/she worked that day. Within 20 days, the driver must forward the original log to his/her home terminal or to his/her carrier’s principal place of business.
Within 30 days of receipt, the carrier is required to file the original copy of each log and any supporting documents. Duplicates of each log are to be retained by the driver at his/her place of residence. All records must be kept for a period of at least six months.
Enforcement
A driver who is in violation of the hours of service limit(s) will be prohibited from driving until such time as the requirements of the regulations are met.
Law
Traffic Safety Act
Regulation
Drivers’ Hours of Service Regulation, AR 317/2002
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