Today, on Oct. 6, 2000, VDO North America will take part in the third and final discussion in a series of roundtables hosted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA is gathering information on the hours-of-service ruling for truck and bus drivers that’s scheduled to be issued by Congress next year. At the meeting, VDO Product Manager Tony Reynolds will display VDO’s version of the European B-1 digital tachograph. The digital tachograph is a $300 instrument that would monitor the work and rest hours of individual drivers when the ruling passes. The EOBR (electronic onboard recorder), or tachograph, has been a point on contention during the ruling debate, because the trucking industry has voiced skepticism that the product is both currently available and relatively inexpensive. Some opponents of the ruling have estimated the cost of equipping a vehicle with the monitoring device at in excess of $3,500 per unit. Because the proposed ruling has resulted in an outpouring of comments to the FMCSA, the public comment period for the ruling has been extended to Dec. 15, 2000.