WASHINGTON - Many more problem truck and bus companies would be required to use electronic onboard recorders to monitor their driver hours under a retooled proposal being prepared by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The safety agency reportedly is readying its revamped proposal before completing a rule that was started by the Bush administration but must now be completed by the Obama administration.

Under the Bush concept, which was never officially made public, only carriers that failed multiple compliance reviews would have had to use the technology.

However, former FMCSA Administrator John Hill said before leaving office that the final rule would expand the number of fleets required to use the technology beyond what had initially been proposed.

The Obama team reportedly is preparing an even tougher proposal.

Larry Minor, FMCSA associate administrator of policy and program development, told a leading trucking publication, Transport Topics, that the new proposal "would require EOBRs for a larger population of carriers."

The FMCSAs new intention surfaced in the agencys monthly report on significant rulemakings.

The report also indicated the FMCSA plans to consider addressing requirements for hours-of-service supporting documents. Such requirements spell out what evidence carriers need to retain to verify logbook entries.

The trucking industry has been frustrated by the FMCSAs failure to address the supporting-documents requirement on a timely basis, and reportedly is upset the agency seems intent on tying the oft-delayed requirement to the EOBR rules.

Truckers think it should be part of the agencys review of the hours-of-service rules for truckers, which is on a faster track than the EOBR rule.

Minor told Transport Topics that to further expand the population of carriers subject to proposed EOBR rules, the agency must move forward with a new notice of proposed rulemaking.

He said that in the final rule, FMCSA was "trying to go as far as we can" within the scope of the original notice of proposed rule-making. Because that formal document "didnt propose a universal mandate or a larger population of carriers," Minor said, "we couldnt address that issue in the final rule."