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Since January 1st, 2007, the Federal government will implement new rules concerning hours of service and on-duty time. The objective of this law is to give a longer rest period and to reduce the hours they work on a daily basis. These regulations produce major impacts on the ways you use your charter motorcoach service in Canada.

In brief:

The limit on on-duty time per driver shall be 14 hours in a 24-hour day.

On-duty time means the time devoted to:

• preparing the vehicle prior to departure
• driving the motorcoach
• waiting for travellers while they are engaged in the activities included in the tour program, etc.

Of these 14 on-duty hours, the maximum driving time is 13 hours .

A driver must complete his/her workday no later than 16 hours after beginning it.

During a 24 hours period, he/she must take a 10 hours rest break T

he workday must include two hours of rest , with each rest period to last a minimum of 30 minutes .

An 8 hours period of rest is mandatory before starting a new shift.

 24 consecutive hours of rest are mandatory after 14 days of work.

The potential impacts on tour groups

Once the new regulations come into force, the duration of day trips, a preferred type of excursion among many tour operators, may no longer go over 16 hours with the same driver — under all circumstances. Concerning trips lasting longer than one day, a driver must be granted 24 hours of rest after logging 14 days of work .

In the United

Within every 15 hours of a driver’s work time, the maximum length of time allowed for driving a motorcoach should not exceed 10 hours . Following this time, 8 hours of rest are mandatory.

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In the role of client, you too must comply with this regulation.

Section 74.3 of the Quebec Transport Act

Every person who advises, encourages or incites another person to commit an offence against this Act, the regulations or an order or who does or omits to do something in order to aid another person to commit an offence is a party to that offence whether or not the offender has been prosecuted or found guilty.

Section 596.1 of the Highway Safety Code

Any person who advises, encourages or incites another person to do a thing that constitutes an offence under this Code or under a legislative or regulatory provision which is under the responsibility of the Société pursuant to an agreement entered into in accordance with Title VIII.2, or who accomplishes or omits to accomplish a thing which results in aiding another person to commit an offence is a party to that offence and is liable to the same penalty as that which is prescribed for the offerder, whether or not the offender has been prosecuted or convicted.

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