As you have likely heard by now, even though the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate was effective on December 18, 2017, law enforcement in the U.S. have been using a “soft enforcement” approach.
ELD violations have been initiated by DOT against drivers and motor carriers under 395.22(a) violations; however, no Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) points, or drivers have been placed out of service.
That is about to change, starting April 1, 2018 when full enforcement of the ELD rule comes into force.
What does this mean for you?
Well, convictions for hours of service violations specific to ELD will result in CSA points being issued against a motor carrier’s safety profile. From a driver’s perspective, non-compliance with ELD can and will result in a citation and an out-of-service order as well.
Motor carriers should do everything in their power to ensure that their drivers are up to speed with all the ELD requirements in regulation. This includes ensuring that a driver knows if they are deploying an AOBRD or ELD device, as there are significant differences.
This goes a long way to demystifying the conversation between a driver and DOT at roadside. That is particularly significant given the AOBRD grandfather privileges that extend to December 16, 2019.
Drivers deploying an ELD are required to have an ELD information packet onboard the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) containing the following items:
- A User’s Manual for the driver describing how to operate the ELD;
- An instruction sheet describing the data transfer mechanisms supported by the ELD and step-by-step instructions to produce and transfer the driver’s hours-of-service records to an authorized safety official;
- An instruction sheet for the driver describing ELD malfunction reporting requirements and recordkeeping procedures during ELD malfunctions; and
- A supply of blank driver’s records of duty status (RODS) graph-grids sufficient to record the driver’s duty status and other related information for a minimum of 8 days. Please note that this packet can be in a paper form, or electronically.
On April 1, 2018, a driver that is non-compliant with the following ELD requirements can and will be placed out-of-service for 10 hours if the driver is:
- Using an unauthorized ELD that is not registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Please check at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/ELD/List, to confirm that the device a driver is using is registered with FMCSA.
- Not able to either produce and/or transfer data electronically from an ELD to the Safety Official OR to submit the data from the device display or print it out the required logs.
Note: Step 2 is not a requirement for AOBRD, however a driver with an AOBRD can be placed out-of-service if he/she unable to display or produce records of duty status upon request of the Safety Official.
- Indicating on their log the duty status that he/she is not actually doing at the time inspected by the Safety Official.
- Operating a commercial motor vehicle without an ELD, and the vehicle is not otherwise operating under a specific exemption.
Once a driver serves the 10-hour period, he/she will be able to proceed to their final destination and deliver the load, provided they have a paper log to fill out.
Once the driver returns to his/her home terminal, or the motor carrier’s principal place of business at the end of the trip, the driver will not be able to be dispatched for any further trips, unless the operated commercial motor vehicle is equipped with an ELD compliant device.
