Exemption to allow an alternative to meeting the mandatory off-duty time and daily off-duty time requirements established under the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations

Tracking Number – ASF-E-2016-03

Pursuant to section 16 of the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, after consulting with the affected provinces and being of the opinion that the exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to affect motor carrier safety, I hereby exempt extra-provincial truck undertakings and their drivers of oil well service vehicles, who are employed or otherwise engaged in the provision of specialized services to the oil and gas industry, from sections 13 and 14 of the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (the Regulations), subject to the conditions set out below.

Purpose

The purpose of this exemption is to allow extra-provincial truck undertakings and their drivers to meet the mandatory off-duty time requirements by accumulating off-duty time in sleeper berths or alternate sleep accommodations.

Application

This exemption applies to extra-provincial truck undertakings and their drivers of oil well service vehicles who are employed or otherwise engaged in specialized service operations under the provisions of a valid Oil Well Service Vehicle Permit, between and through the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Definitions

For the purposes of this exemption,

“alternate sleep accommodations” means accommodations that are utilized by a driver to obtain recuperative sleep under the provisions of this exemption, and include:

1. a camp sleep facility that complies with all applicable laws related to occupational health and safety, building and fire codes, and any other laws directly related to the regulation of work camps;
2. a commercial hotel or motel; and
3. a driver’s private residence.

“base jurisdiction” means the province or territory where the commercial vehicle operated by the extra-provincial undertaking is registered or base-plated.

“elapsed time” means the period of time that is calculated by

1. including
   1. all on-duty time;
   2. all off-duty time not spent in the sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation;
   3. all periods of less than 2 hours spent in the sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation;
   4. any other period spent in the sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation that is not excluded from the elapsed time calculation; and
2. excluding any period spent in the sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation that is 2 hours or more in duration and that, when added to a subsequent period in the sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation, totals at least 10 hours.

“Enform” means the organization that serves as the government-recognized petroleum safety association for the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“oil well service vehicle” means a commercial vehicle that is specially constructed, altered or equipped to provide specialized services generally performed by companies supporting the petroleum drilling and producing industry;

“specialized service” means the provision of services intended to increase or improve oil or gas well production, including but not limited to, well testing; mud-filling; cementing; hydraulic fracturing; voltage, logging and resistivity measurements; and cleaning of industrial equipment; as the particular requirement might arise in the normal course of well drilling, completion and maintenance operations.

Conditions

This exemption is subject to the following conditions:

1. Prior to commencement of operations under this exemption, the extra-provincial truck undertaking shall:
   1. develop and implement a fatigue risk management program that includes ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement as set out in Enform’s publication “Fatigue Risk Management – A Program Development Guide” or an equivalent deemed acceptable by the provincial hours of service director of the base jurisdiction;
   2. provide to its dispatchers, supervisors and drivers, hours of service and fatigue management training that is based on Enform’s courses or an equivalent deemed acceptable by the provincial hours of service director;
   3. provide to its drivers of commercial vehicles, Oilfield Driver Awareness training that is based on Enform’s course or an equivalent deemed acceptable by the provincial hours of service director.  Enform’s General Oilfield Driver Improvement or Light Duty Vehicle courses provided prior to issuance of this exemption, are also deemed as equivalent training until three years after the course was held, after which time, the Oilfield Driver Awareness course must be provided;
   4. document in writing any mandatory training provided to dispatchers, supervisors and drivers, and in the case of drivers, issue the driver a training certificate, ensure that the driver signs it and place a copy on the driver’s file;
   5. obtain and continue to maintain a valid Certificate of Recognition, Medium Employer Certificate of Recognition or a Small Employer Certificate of Recognition from Enform or other Certifying Partner, as applicable;
   6. ensure that a National Safety Code Standard #15 - Facility Audit is conducted by a provincial facility auditor or a third-party auditor who is deemed acceptable to the province;
   7. during a National Safety Code Standard Facility Audit, make available to the provincial or third-party auditor any documentation and supporting materials required to demonstrate its compliance with the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations and the conditions of this exemption; and
   8. notify in writing the provincial hours of service director of the base jurisdiction of its intention to operate under this exemption.
2. While operating under this exemption, the extra-provincial truck undertaking shall:
   1. hold an Oil Well Service Vehicle Permit that is valid for every jurisdiction where operations are taking place;
   2. hold a valid safety fitness certificate that has been assigned a Satisfactory or Excellent Safety Rating by the base jurisdiction pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Transport Act and the Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Certificate Regulations;
   3. when commercial vehicles are being operated on public highways, have a journey management program in place that is based on Enform’s publication, Journey Management – A Program Development Guide;
   4. require that a copy of the exemption and any acknowledgement letter of intention to operate that has been received from the provincial hours of service director of the base jurisdiction to be placed in the commercial vehicles that are operated in accordance with this exemption;
   5. keep at their principal place of business or other location deemed acceptable by the provincial hours of service director, a copy of the exemption and any acknowledgement letter of intention to operate that has been received from the provincial hours of service director of the base jurisdiction as well as daily logs and other supporting documents that demonstrate compliance with the conditions of this exemption and shall at the request of an inspector or provincial hours of service director, immediately make available for inspection such documentation;
   6. monitor drivers and other employees for compliance with the conditions of this exemption and where non-compliance is observed, ensure immediate remedial actions are taken and document these monitoring efforts and results;
   7. conduct and document timely reviews of all collision reports involving their commercial vehicle drivers and if it is found that a driver had been operating under the exemption at the time of the collision, the motor carrier is to determine if there was evidence of non-compliance with the Regulations, the Permit or the terms and conditions of the exemption; the causality or preventability of the collision; and take mitigating action if necessary in order to prevent a reoccurrence;
   8. annually submit a monitoring report to the provincial hours of service director, which should include, but be not limited to:
      1. describing the motor carrier’s efforts to monitor compliance with the exemption during the previous year and any subsequent findings in that regard;
      2. providing the names of drivers that operated under the exemption during that time and the driver’s licence numbers for those drivers;
      3. providing details regarding the course title and content of any mandatory training provided along with the names of the participants that passed the course and the expiry dates, if applicable, for the training certificates issued;
      4. describing improvements made to required safety programs such as the fatigue management or journey management programs;
      5. summarizing the results of reviews conducted on reports of collisions involving drivers who were operating under the exemption at the time of the collision, including any determinations made with respect to the causality or preventability of the collision and any mitigating action to prevent a re-occurrence; and
      6. describing in general terms, how the exemption was used and under what circumstances, the sleep accommodations used and after interviewing drivers and supervisors, report how well drivers are sleeping and whether they wake up feeling rested and alert under this split sleep arrangement.
   9. comply with all the other applicable requirements of the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations.
3. Prior to commencement of operations under this exemption, the driver shall take fatigue management and hours of service training and other operational safety training that should include but not be limited to the Oilfield Driver Awareness course, or deemed equivalent by the provincial hours of service director.
4. While operating under this exemption, the driver of an extra-provincial truck undertaking operating a commercial vehicle shall:
   1. operate under the provisions of an Oil Well Service Vehicle Permit that is valid in every province where driving occurs;
   2. accumulate off-duty time in accordance with the following conditions:
      1. accumulate a minimum of 10 hours of off-duty time in no more than two periods, with neither period shorter than 2 hours;
      2. the minimum of 10 hours of off-duty time is spent resting in a sleeper berth or alternate sleep accommodation;
      3. the total of the driving time in the periods immediately before and after each of the qualifying periods of off-duty time does not exceed 13 hours;
      4. the total of the on-duty time in the periods immediately before and after each of the qualifying periods of off-duty time does not include any driving time after the 14th hour; and
      5. the elapsed time in the periods immediately before and after each of the qualifying periods of off-duty time does not include any driving time after the 16th hour after the driver comes on-duty;
   3. not utilize the provisions for deferral of daily off-duty time under section 16 of the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations while operating under the exemption;
   4. indicate in the “Remarks” section of each daily log, if the exemption is being used on that day and the name and location of the alternate sleep accommodation that the driver used for each split sleep period;
   5. carry a copy of the exemption and any acknowledgement letter of intention to operate that has been issued by the provincial hours of service director of the base jurisdiction in the commercial vehicle, and shall make the documents available for inspection by an inspector, immediately upon request; and
   6. comply with all other applicable requirements of the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations.

Validity

This exemption comes into effect upon the date that it is signed and remains valid until the earliest of the following:

1. 36 months after the date that it comes into effect, at 23:59 MST;
2. the date on which the exemption is cancelled in writing by the Minister where he is of the opinion that it is no longer in the public interest, or that it is likely to affect motor carrier safety.