Top 5 ELD Questions

Fleets are really starting to think about which ELogs are going to meet the mandate’s requirements. Secondly, fleets are trying to find out how ELogs are going to impact their day to day operation. Below are the quick answers to the FAQs that come in to our regulatory experts.

Question: Who is exempt from the electronic logging device (ELD) final rule?
Answer: The ELD rule allows limited exceptions to the ELD mandate for drivers:

• Who operate under the short-haul exceptions. They may continue using timecards, are not required to keep RODS and will not be required to use ELDs;
• Who use paper RODS for not more than 8 days out of every rolling 30-day period;
• Who conduct drive-away-tow-away operations, in which the vehicle being driven is the
• commodity being delivered;
• In a driveaway-towaway operation in which the vehicle being transported is a motor home or a recreation vehicle trailer; or
• Driving a vehicle that was manufactured before model year 2000, as reflected in the vehicle identification number as shown on the vehicle’s registration.

Question: Are logs created on an ELD or AOBRD required to be printed at the roadside?
Answer:

ELD – In addition to requirement to transmit the hours of service data via telematics (email and web services) or via local transfer (Bluetooth® and USB 2.0), the last seven days’ hours of service records and the current day’s hours of service must be capable of being printed upon demand during a roadside inspection or be capable of being viewed without an enforcement officer entering the cab of the vehicle.

AOBRD – There is no requirement in the regulations for an AOBRD to print the prior seven days’ hours and the current day’s hours, as long as the information is displayed on the AOBRD on demand during a roadside inspection. An enforcement officer may request additional information be provided via email or similar means within 48 hours.

Question: Are rented or leased commercial motor vehicles exempt from the ELD rule?
Answer: No. Motor carriers or drivers that operate rented or leased commercial motor vehicle are required to record hours of service with an ELD, unless the driver or commercial motor vehicle is exempt from the requirements of the ELD rule. The business renting the vehicle to a carrier is not responsible for the ELD being used in the truck. The carrier must make arrangements to get an ELD in the truck for use by drivers who are not exempt from using an ELD to log hours of service.

Question: Who is required to have an ELD user account?
Answer: ELD user accounts must be set up by a motor carrier for the following individuals:

1. Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who are employed by the motor carrier and who are required to use the ELD, and
2. Support personnel who have been authorized by the motor carrier to:

• Create, remove, and manage user accounts
• Configure permissible ELD parameters
• Access, review, and manage drivers’ ELD records on behalf of the motor carrier

Mechanics may only drive the vehicles locally to vendors or for test drives and may not be required by the FMCSRs to use an ELD. However, a user account for each driver of an ELD equipped vehicle will minimize the amount of administrative work associated with managing unassigned drive time. A carrier may also have a company policy that every qualified person who drives a commercial motor vehicle for the carrier, has a user account and is expected to log in to each vehicle when he/she drives.

Question: If a carrier’s ELD is determined by the FMCSA to be non-compliant and is removed from the ELD registry, how long does the carrier have to find a replacement vendor’s ELD to use in their commercial motor vehicles?
Answer: The non-compliant ELD must be replaced by a certified ELD currently in the registry within eight days of the device being removed from the registry list.
Eight days from the notification to the carrier, is also the timeframe within which a certified ELD, which is malfunctioning, must be repaired.

Fleets who want to be compliant with the mandate by December 18th, 2017 can’t wait any longer to get started. The stress of getting ELogs into your trucks, getting drivers fluent in new technology and processes, plus getting your administrative staff familiar with their new roles and responsibilities is too much to ask anyone to complete in a few weeks or even a few months.

Change takes time. And unfortunately, for some fleets, that's the one thing they are losing by waiting.