Electronic Logging Devices and Trucking Hours-of-Service: What the Data Shows After a Semi Crash

Published April 2, 2019 · Injury Law Basics

For decades, the record of how long a truck driver had been behind the wheel was a paper logbook the driver filled out himself. Drivers joked about "comic books," and lawyers who handled trucking cases learned to compare those logs against fuel receipts and toll tickets to find the hours that had been quietly erased.

That era is mostly over. Since the end of 2017, most interstate tractor-trailers on I-75 and I-70 have been required to carry an electronic logging device, and that device can be the most important piece of evidence in a serious truck crash case, if someone acts quickly enough to save it.

What the ELD rule requires

Federal motor carrier regulations require each motor carrier operating commercial motor vehicles to install and require its drivers to use an electronic logging device, or ELD, to record their duty status, with compliance due no later than December 18, 2017. That requirement appears at 49 C.F.R. 395.8(a)(1)(i).

There are some exceptions. Drivers who need to keep logs on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period, certain "driveaway-towaway" operations, and trucks manufactured before model year 2000 may still use paper logs. And carriers that had already installed older "automatic on-board recording devices" before the December 2017 deadline are allowed to keep using those devices until December 16, 2019. But for most long-haul freight moving through the Miami Valley today, there is an electronic record.

What an ELD actually records

An ELD is connected to the truck's engine. Under 49 C.F.R. 395.26, it automatically records a set of data points, including:

• the date and time;
• the truck's geographic location;
• engine hours and vehicle miles;
• the identity of the driver, the vehicle, and the motor carrier.

Those data points are captured every time the driver's duty status changes, for example from "on duty, not driving" to "driving." They are also captured when the engine powers up or shuts down, when a driver logs in or out, and, while the truck is moving, at least once an hour through what the regulation calls an "intermediate recording." The result is a time-stamped trail of where the truck was, how far it had traveled, and how long the engine had been running.

That trail is harder to fake than a paper log. The regulations specifically prohibit drivers and carriers from tampering with an ELD or blocking its signal so that it does not record accurately.

The hours-of-service limits the ELD enforces

The point of logging is to enforce the federal hours-of-service rules for truck drivers, which exist because fatigued drivers cause crashes. For property-carrying drivers, the core limits in 49 C.F.R. 395.3 are:

• The 14-hour window. After coming on duty, a driver may drive only during a period of 14 consecutive hours. Once that window closes, he cannot drive again until he has taken the required time off.
• The 11-hour driving limit. Within that 14-hour window, a driver may drive a total of no more than 11 hours.
• The 60/70-hour limit. A driver may not drive after being on duty 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days, or 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days if the carrier operates every day of the week.

The rules also require a rest break during the driving day. When a driver who caused a crash was at hour 13 of his window, or had been pushing 70 hours in a week, that is evidence of fatigue, and it is evidence that the trucking company either allowed or encouraged the violation.

Why the data can disappear in months

Here is the problem for injured people. Under 49 C.F.R. 395.8(k)(1), a motor carrier is required to keep drivers' records of duty status and supporting documents for not less than six months. Six months is only the minimum, and once it passes, a company that has not been put on notice of a claim may no longer have them.

The truck itself presents a separate problem. After a crash, a damaged tractor may be repaired, returned to service, or sold. Engine control module data, sometimes called "black box" data, that can show speed, braking, and throttle in the seconds before impact may be overwritten as the truck keeps running. Dash camera video and the driver's cell phone records have their own short lifespans.

That is why the first thing our office does in a serious truck crash case is send a preservation letter, sometimes called a spoliation letter, to the motor carrier, its insurer, and anyone else who may hold evidence. The letter identifies the crash and demands that the company preserve the ELD data, logs, supporting documents, engine data, the truck itself, dash camera footage, and driver records. In my experience that letter needs to go out within days, not months. I wrote about the special evidence in trucking cases in an earlier post on why truck crash cases are different.

Matching the ELD against everything else

ELD data is most powerful when it is checked against other records. Federal regulations require carriers to retain "supporting documents" for each driver's duty status, including bills of lading and itineraries showing where each trip began and ended, dispatch and trip records, expense receipts, messages sent through the company's fleet management system, and payroll or settlement records showing what the driver was paid.

When those documents are lined up against the ELD, patterns emerge. A delivery schedule that could not be met without breaking the 11-hour limit. A fuel receipt showing the driver was somewhere the log says he was not. A dispatcher's message urging the driver to keep going. Payroll records that pay by the mile and reward speed. Each of these can turn a "driver error" case into a case against the company that put a tired driver on the road.

What this means for you

If you or a family member was seriously hurt or killed in a crash with a semi on I-75, I-70, I-675, or any Ohio road, the evidence that proves fatigue and company responsibility exists, but often only for a few months. The trucking company and its insurer will have investigators working within hours. Your side needs to move just as quickly. Our truck accident practice handles these cases from the first preservation letter forward, and our car and truck accidents page explains how commercial cases differ from ordinary crash claims. If you lost a loved one, our wrongful death page explains who may bring the claim. For more on the particular dangers of our local interstates, see last fall's post on Dayton's truck corridors.