Truck drivers who drive in the United States will no longer be able to use paper logs as of December 18.

Candace Bartel, vice-president of organizational development with Steve's Livestock says the company started the journey of implementing electronic or e-logs two years ago, and have

started transitioning more intentionally over the last six months. Bartel notes Steve's Livestock has about 160 drivers but not all of them travel into the U.S. adding the e-logs have been installed in about half of the fleet.

Bartel says the e-log system is integrated into the operation of the vehicle which makes tracking and staying within the hours of operation easier, however, there are challenges as well.

Manitoba Truck Association executive director Terry Shaw says there are drivers who have been in the industry for many years and are used to filling in paper logs, so this transition will require a change in mindset along with driver training.

"Once they've been trained on it, it's a big time saver. It's a lot more efficient than breaking out the pen, the paper, and drawing the line charts everytime you do a change of duty status. The e-log automatically knows when the truck is stopped and shut down because it's connected to the truck."

Bartel says they have implemented in-house training with an in-class portion followed by hands-on, in the truck training followed by continuing support for the driver. She notes during this time of transition the satellite providers seem to be struggling with supply and demand of the product because not everyone has implemented or installed the systems yet.

She adds an industry like Steve's which transports live animals has challenges all their own.

"In the United States there's 115 Air Mile Exemptions for livestock transport drivers and the satellite providers have not been able to keep up with the exemptions," notes Bartel. "So, they haven't been able to program that so we can actually use it. That's going to be a challenge for our drivers. Our fleet is going to be different than other fleets. A driver from Steve's, because they're dealing with a live animal, they have to balance the hours of service rules with the animal welfare."

She notes, with this challenge they have improved on the way loads are run.

"We've increased the number of teams that we have in our fleet to run loads so we can make sure we're running them within the hours of service rules. We've also started switching loads which really means you're taking a load and you're just switching it from one driver to the next, that way everybody is maximizing their hours so that animals can get to their destination on time and safely."

Shaw adds there may be an announcement coming for a mandatory e-log implementation in Canada. He says in Canada if Transport Canada sets a national standard, it's still up to the individual provinces to adopt the standard.

"A federally regulated company can go from Ontario to Alberta, passes through Manitoba, for a total of 300 or so kilometres, as they go from West Hawk through to Saskatchewan, but you can have an inter-provincial carrier going from Emerson to Thompson every day putting three-times those miles, who may not be subject to an e-log mandate."

He notes that creates inefficiencies for enforcement and the industry adding it also causes competitive disadvantages and causes different playing fields when it comes to road safety. Shaw says they are repeadly encouraging the province to take a position in support of the mandate.