Full enforcement of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate begins this April 1. If you have not already selected an ELD for your fleet, there isn’t much time left to do so.
The mandate actually went into effect in December of 2017 but law enforcement officials offered a reprieve of sorts. They did not attach CSA points to write-ups of trucks they found without ELDs nor did they take a vehicle out of service for failure to have a working ELD.
However, that grace period comes to an end on April 1 and I have seen no signs that it will be extended. In other words: time’s up.
There are a wide variety of ELDs on the market to choose from so you should be able to find one that fits your needs.
Once you settle on the ELD that is right for you, you need to quickly get your drivers up-to-speed on how it operates and make sure they understand how to transfer the data from the ELD to the law enforcement official.
Also make sure drivers know that they need to have the ELD User’s Manual, which provides instructions for producing and transferring data and details on how to report ELD malfunctions. They also need blank records of duty status forms on-hand to use for recording hours of service for eight days should the ELD malfunction.
April 1 is just around the corner and if a driver is caught with an unauthorized ELD, or with no ELD, the vehicle will be placed out-of-service. It’s as simple as that.
So now’s the time to equip your trucks with the required ELDs or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
