OTTAWA, Ontario Transport Canada has issued new hours-of-service rules for all buses operating in Canada that carry 10 passengers or more.

The rules modify the current regulations in nearly a dozen different ways and significantly diverge from U.S. driving rules in a handful of areas.

They go into effect a year from now -- on Jan. 1, 2007.

The rules cut driving time to 13 hours during a 14-hour on-duty period, followed by 10 hours of rest within a 24-hour period. The current rules allow 16 hours of driving with 8 hours of off-duty within 24 hours.

Canadas new rules also require 8 hours of the 10 hours of off-duty time to be taken consecutively. The additional 2 hours off can be taken in periods of no less than half an hour.

In the U.S., commercial bus drivers are limited to 10 hours behind the wheel, followed by 8 consecutive hours of rest. But a U.S. coach driver can then operate a vehicle again for 6 hours. In Canada, drivers cant drive again until after the 24-hour day has ended.

And, the new Canadian rules have added a provision the U.S. motorcoach industry has advocated for years but has never successfully gotten inserted into the hours-of-service rules: Shipper provisions. Canadas rules have extended the onus of compliance to shippers (customers). Essentially, the new rules say that third parties (users of the bus service, tour directors, group leaders and the like) must not request, require or allow a driver to drive in contravention of the HOS regulations.

According to Motor Coach Canada and the Ontario Motor Coach Association, both of which were heavily involved in the years of work leading to the new rules, Canadian government officials wanted that countrys rules revamped because they were too permissive and did not reflect current sleep and fatigue research that advocates the need to respect the bodys circadian rhythm (the 24-hour clock).

Apparently, none of the groups involved in negotiating the rules are happy with them. Motor Coach Canada says safety advocates say they allow too many hours of driving and not enough rest; trucking companies say they are too restrictive and will result in less efficiency and the need for more drivers; shippers say they will drive up the cost of transportation, and enforcement agencies say the rules are too complex and will be difficult to enforce.
For its part, Motor Coach Canada says the rules will exacerbate the driver shortage and make bus travel less affordable, enticing customers to look to alternate means of travel. Tour operators say they will complicate itinerary design, drive up tour costs and make group travel by coach less appealing.

Motor Coach Canada tried unsuccessfully to convince both federal and provincial officials that coach operator rules should be different from those of truckers, as is now the case in the U.S. "Motor Coach Canada made all the arguments about rest opportunities that occur during a typical charter/tour bus drivers day and the fact the coach stops more frequently than a truck for rest breaks.

"However, Transport Canada and the provinces were steadfastly opposed to having a double standard for commercial drivers in Canada and rejected our recommendation for a two-tiered hours-of-service regulation," the association said.

"Top Ten" changes
According to Motor Coach Canada, here are the 10 most-important changes incorporated in the revised rules.
1. The minimum daily off-duty time in a 24-hour period is increased by 25 percent.
2. The daily on-duty time in a 24-hour period is reduced by 13 percent.
3. The daily driving time in a 24-hour period is reduced by 18.8 percent.
4. The once-a-week "short turn" is eliminated.
5. The drivers work shift is restricted to 16 hours.
6. "Cycle switching" -- to gain more on-duty time -- is prohibited.
7. Rules for sleeper berths (split times, design, construction) are tightened.
8. One day off in a 15-day period is mandated (regardless of on-duty accumulation).
9. Responsibility for compliance is shared (carrier, driver, tour operator, tour director, etc.).
10. Enforcement officers are granted new powers.

Motor Coach Canada has put together a list of rules-related items that warrant special consideration by coach operators:

· No "short turns" means drivers must get 8-full hours off-duty prior to starting a new work shift For example, where a drivers work shift ends at 11 p.m., the driver cant start his/her pre-trip inspection of the bus the next morning until 7 a.m. This might mean having to hire a local bus company to do late-night shuttles from a venue back to the hotel to allow the tour driver to get his/her full 8 hours off-duty.

· Long, one-day outings that could be done legally with one driver under the old rules may require two drivers under the new rules

· The rules "continuously ticking shift clock" means a driver who starts his or her work shift at 6 a.m. will run out of hours at 10 p.m. For example, on a one-day outing to a venue 250 miles away, with a seven-hour stay at the venue, the driver could run out of hours on the way home.

· Tour operators and bus companies may need to consider a "tour start" where another driver does the pre-trip inspection and multiple pickups to conserve hours for the long-haul driver.

· "Out-of-service" orders. A driver who is found to have a falsified a log-book or fails to produce a log-book will be placed out-of-service for 72 hours.