Editorial · December 16, 2015
Electronic Logging Device Mandate: What Fleets Face
The electronic logging device mandate is now final. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the rule on December 10, and the Federal Register publishes it on December 16. Most interstate truck and bus drivers who now keep paper logs must switch to a certified electronic logging device (ELD). The deadline is December 18, two years after publication, and vehicles with a compliant older recorder in use before then get two more years. Three groups of drivers may keep paper logs, but no fleet is exempt just for being small.
What the rule requires
An ELD is a device tied to a vehicle's engine. It records driving time on its own and replaces the paper log. Congress ordered the rule in MAP-21, a 2012 transportation law. The law says a device must record the vehicle's location and resist tampering. It also says a device that is not certified is not acceptable evidence of a driver's hours.
Makers must register their devices on an FMCSA website and certify that each model meets the standard. Carriers may use only listed devices, and FMCSA can remove a model that does not meet the standard. Smartphones and other wireless devices can qualify if they meet the technical rules and are certified. A device must pass its data to an inspector by wireless web service and email, or by USB and Bluetooth. A driver must also be able to show a screen or a printout.
Drivers can make limited edits and add notes, but the original record stays. FMCSA says the rule does not change the hours a driver may work.
Who must use an ELD, and who need not
The federal rule covers interstate drivers who must keep a record of duty status, the formal name for a driver's log. FMCSA counts a log kept on a computer that is not synchronized to the vehicle as a paper log. The rule also covers Canadian and Mexican drivers on U.S. roads. States must adopt compatible rules to keep federal safety funding, so in-state fleets should watch for their state's rules. A carrier may let three groups of drivers keep paper logs:
- drivers who use paper logs no more than 8 days in any 30-day period
- drivers in driveaway-towaway work, where the vehicle being driven is the item being delivered
- drivers of vehicles built before model year 2000
Drivers who use the timecard exception for local work keep time cards, not logs, so they need no ELD. Small fleets get no exemption on size alone. FMCSA says its safety rules generally do not vary with fleet size, and 99 percent of the carriers it regulates are small businesses. FMCSA says the duty to comply lies with both the driver and the carrier.
Dates to mark
- December 10: FMCSA announces the rule.
- December 16: the Federal Register publishes the rule.
- February 16: the rule takes effect.
- December 18: the compliance date, two years after publication.
The rule takes effect February 16, but ELDs are not required until the compliance date. Congress set the two-year clock in MAP-21, and FMCSA counts it from publication, not from the effective date. FMCSA plans to open its device registration website on or shortly after February 16, and carriers may then choose to use listed devices early.
Vehicles with older recorders get extra time. An automatic on-board recording device (AOBRD) is an older type of electronic recorder. A carrier that puts a compliant AOBRD in use before the compliance date may keep it for two more years. FMCSA says this extra time is tied to each vehicle, not to the whole fleet.
What a small fleet should do now
Count your covered drivers. Start with drivers who log on paper more than 8 days in any 30. Set aside vehicles built before model year 2000. Their drivers need no ELD but still keep paper logs when required.
Wait for a listed device. Before you buy, ask the seller whether the model will be listed.
Ask your current vendor whether your devices can be updated. Transport Topics reports that ELD makers expect to bring current systems into line with software updates, not major hardware changes.
Set a budget. FMCSA estimates that a typical carrier will spend about $584 per vehicle to buy and install ELDs, plus about $20 a month per vehicle in service fees. FMCSA notes that at least one provider gives away the hardware and charges higher monthly fees, and that lease-to-own plans exist. FMCSA also estimates recordkeeping savings of about $805 per driver a year, with larger carriers generally saving more.
Plan the paperwork. From the compliance date, a carrier must keep up to eight supporting documents for each 24-hour period that a driver using an ELD is on duty. It must hold them for six months. Examples are bills of lading (shipping papers), dispatch records, expense receipts and payroll records. Drivers must hand them in within 13 days of getting them.
Train your dispatchers. The rule bans carriers from harassing drivers with ELD information. That means an action the carrier knew, or should have known, would result in a driver breaking the hours rules or driving while ill or fatigued. A driver may file a written complaint with FMCSA within 90 days of the harassment. A carrier found to harass a driver faces a civil penalty on top of the penalty for the underlying violation.
What shippers should know
The ELD rule itself puts no duties on shippers. But a separate FMCSA rule, published November 30, does reach shippers. Starting January 29, it bars motor carriers, shippers, receivers and transportation intermediaries, such as freight brokers, from coercing drivers. Coercion means threatening a driver's work to get them to take a trip the driver said would break hours-of-service limits or certain other safety rules. Punishing a driver for refusing such a trip also counts.
Ask each carrier you use whether its drivers are covered and which device it plans to buy. Set delivery windows that fit the hours-of-service limits.