OOSC, Part I, Item 9. Driver's Record of Duty Status - U.S. - ELD Tampering

This issue request is a follow-up to issue 24-046-DRV (false record of duty status where the ELD file has been manipulated) which was discussed at the CVSA workshop in New Orleans. The Driver and Traffic Enforcement (DTE) Committee agreed that this violation should result in the driver being placed out of service for ten hours. I would like to request that the DTE Committee look again at this issue, and consider increasing the out of service period from ten hours to 34. The justification for this is outlined below.

Electronic records of duty status that have been manipulated on the back end (either by the carrier or a third party) are extremely difficult to reconstruct on a roadside inspection. These files often completely fabricated so that it can be impossible to determine if the driver is in violation of the 11, 14 and 60/70 hour rules at the time of inspection. I have undertaken multiple roadside inspections where the ELD file is completely fabricated, to the extent that I am unable to calculate 60/70 hour rule violations because phantom 34 hour resets have been deliberately built into the eight day log. Given the fact that the OOSC is in place to deal with imminent hazards, I believe that consideration should be given to addressing the violation of the 60/70 hour rule in cases where the ELD file has been manipulated. A ten hour out of service may obtain compliance if the driver is in violation of the 11 or 14 hour rule. However, it will not help deal with egregious violations of the 60/70 hour rule. Fatigue can be a significant factor in CMV crashes, and some drivers are working for extended periods of time and therefore violating hours of service regulations. There are being deliberately hidden by the carrier, which allows the driver to continue to drive while fatigued. On 7/16/2025 I conducted a roadside inspection where the ELD file had been heavily manipulated to: disguise hours of service violations, give the driver a fabricated 34 hour reset (which I was able to prove false using shipping papers and talking to the shipper), and show made-up locations that were completely different from where the driver and CMV actually were. While I was able to prove that the driver was in violation of the 11 and 14 hour rules at the time of inspection, I was not able to calculate accurately the driver's compliance with the 70 hour rule because the ELD file had been so heavily manipulated. I am happy to brief the committee on this example at the CVSA conference in September.

I would request that the DTE Committee update the proposed change to the OOSC to include the following: (X) False Record of Duty Status – ELD Tampering A required RODS recorded on an ELD does not accurately reflect the driver’s duty status due to disabling, reengineered, reprogramed, or tampered with data, and it is not possible for the inspector to determine if the driver is in compliance with the 60/70 hour rules. (395.8(e)(2)) Declare driver out of service for 34 consecutive hours. A footnote could be added to this violation to state that, if the driver has been subject to inspection in the previous 8 days, and placed out of service for 34 hours for a manipulated ELD violation, then the 34 hour reset would not be applicable for the current inspection, and the driver could only be placed out of service for ten hours if the ELD file has been manipulated subsequent to the previous inspection.