WASHINGTON — Violations of the new federal electronic logging device regulations are becoming part of carrier Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores posted on the national Safety Measurement System website.
ELD regulations became effective on December 18, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration delayed enforcement until April 1 to allow carriers more time to resolve widespread problems with installation and activation of the devices and software.
Logging and ELD transgressions accounted for the four leading categories of violations detected by commercial vehicle inspectors of motorcoach drivers across the country during the first quarter of the year.
While ELD violations were not enforced during the first quarter, violation statistics were reported to FMCSA.
FMCSA announced last month that new ELD violations would be added to the hours-of-service category, one of seven parts of the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) used to identify carriers that pose the greatest risks to safety.
“As of April 1, 2018, violations related to Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations found during roadside inspections are being used in the SMS,” FMCSA announced. “These violations are not being applied retroactively; violations recorded prior to April 1, 2018, will not be counted in SMS.
“Motor carriers that have received ELD-related violations will start to see them reflected in their HOS Compliance BASIC in early May 2018 when the next monthly SMS results are released.”
The electronic devices automatically record vehicle operations to track records of duty status (RODS) to improve compliance with hours-of-service (HOS) regulations.
With ELD regulations in full effect, FMCSA has published new related violations:
- Having no logbook when an ELD is required
- Having no logbook when an ELD is not required, such as for an ELD-exempt truck
- Not using the appropriate method to record hours of service.
These violations carry a severity rating of 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.
HOS violations with severity ratings of 10 include operating a commercial motor vehicle while ill, fatigued or impaired by any other cause, as well as driving after being declared out of service. Other violations rated at 5 are related to maintenance of RODS.
Log-related problems accounted for 60.2 percent of all motorcoach driver violations detected by commercial vehicle inspectors from January through March, according to data posted by FMCSA.
The agency listed 3,476 motorcoach driver inspections and 778 violations in the first quarter. None of the drivers were placed out of service.
The violations included:
- Operating with a device that is not registered with FMCSA
- ELD cannot transfer ELD records electronically
- Log violation (general/form and manner)
- Driver failing to maintain ELD user’s manual
- Failure to maintain instructions for automatic onboard recording device
- Driver RODS not current
- Failure to maintain instruction sheet for reporting ELD malfunctions
Logging violations accounted for the top two categories of driver violations reported for all commercial motor vehicle driver categories. “Operating with a device that is not registered with FMCSA” was reported in 33,100 violations and resulted in 20 driver out-of-service orders, and “log violation (general/form and manner)” was cited 26,440 times and led to 74 out-of-service orders.
