If you manage a transportation company of some kind, an ELD mandate might affect your processes and how you do business. But what is an ELD and what does it do?
An ELD stands for an “Electronic Logging Device”. It tracks a vehicle’s behaviour whenever the engine is running to record the driver’s hours of service. The ELD mandate is therefore a federal rule that means all commercial vehicles are required to have an ELD installed.
In December 2017, the ELD mandate went into effect. Below is everything owners of a transportation company would need to know to ensure their employees are in compliance with the mandate.
Who Does the ELD Mandate Apply To?
The ELD mandate applies to drivers, operators and motor carriers – this includes commercial trucks and buses, and other modes of transportation that move between Canada and Mexico. Essentially, it is any vehicle and driver who is responsible for maintaining Records of Duty Status.
ELD mandate requires operators of commercial vehicles to have an electronic logging device that tracks the vehicle operation and driver’s driving behaviour whenever the vehicle is running. Every owner of a trucking/delivery company has the ELD mandate apply to them.
Is Anyone Exempt From The ELD Mandate?
It must be understood that there are some classes of vehicle that the mandate doesn’t apply to. For example, vehicles manufactured before the year 2000 can have paper logs used to track their hours of service, but from 2001, drivers must use ELDs.
Other exemptions are:
- For drivers who use RODS eight days or less in a monthly (30 day) reporting period
- Short-haul drivers who operate in approximately an 100 air mile radius
- Towaway operators
Now, let’s see some requirements for the ELD mandate.
ELD Mandate Requirements
Now that you know who the ELD mandate applies to, you may be wondering what their requirements are.
The ELD mandate requires four things to be followed:
- Drivers who track their hours of service or records of duty status must do so via an ELD
- ELD devices must be certified and registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Drivers must have certain documents on their records
- Drivers cannot be harassed by employers or anyone else based on their ELD data. If they are harassed, the law has resources for such drivers.
Now, let’s see what the laws for the ELD mandate are.
What Are The Laws for ELD Mandate?
The hours of service requirements have been changed since September 2020, and ELD devices are required to be in compliance with these new laws.
That includes the latest changes:
- There is a half an hour break requirement – this can be taken on or off duty.
- There must be ten hours of off-duty time called the Sleeper-Berth rule, but it can be split into two periods. These hours do not count towards a fourteen hour shift.
- A driver is permitted an extension to the maximum window if there are adverse driving conditions.
- On short haul exceptions, the maximum on-duty period has been extended to fourteen hours. It also expands the distance to 150 air miles.
Let’s see some benefits of the ELD mandate below.
Benefits Of The ELD Mandate
Some have been reluctant to get on board with the new ELD mandate since they see it as more constrictive, annoying steps in their daily activities, but it does more than just allows owners to keep track of the records of their drivers.
Here are some benefits of the ELD mandate:
- Drivers can often find paper records tricky to maintain in the hustle and bustle of their daily tasks, and the ELD is much more accurate. It is much harder to lose or rip electronic records than paper ones either.
- ELDs can be flexible and convenient for everyone in trucking companies – owners only need to install the software into a smart device, like a tablet or a smartphone, and they don’t need any new tech to do it.
- Drivers only need to log in their records and not worry about it since it’s automatically uploaded to the system, unlike paper records which need to be kept and returned. Supervisors will be able to see where every vehicle in their fleet is at any one time.
- ELDs can save the driver some valuable time as well, as it is much quicker to type it in than write it down with a paper and pen.
Now you know everything about the ELD mandate for truck drivers.
Conclusion
An ELD is an Electronic Logging Device, and the mandate means that drivers are required to log their hours of service and other records which have until now been done by hand. The mandate was introduced on February 16th 2016, and became mandatory on December 18th 2017.
There are many benefits to ELDs, including it being easy to install for owners, convenient for drivers and useful for supervisors. However, there are some exceptions to this mandate, so it is important to understand the ELD mandate and how it affects your business.
