CVSA, States Eye Crackdown on New ELD Tampering Trend
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Roadside inspectors are considering a new out-of-service rule to combat a growing trend to tamper with electronic logging devices by falsifying a commercial driver’s rest and driving times.
The revealed in recent months that inspectors in many states are reporting new ELD falsification methods by either drivers, carriers or other third parties that are making it difficult for roadside safety inspectors to identify when driving and rest breaks occurred.
“The falsifications are often many hours or days off from what actually occurred. For example, a fuel receipt and bill of lading may say the driver was in Fargo, N.D., on Jan. 1 at 11 a.m., but the record of duty status shows the driver picked up in Fargo on Dec. 30 and was in Santa Fe, N.M., on Jan. 1,” revealed Jeremy Disbrow, CVSA roadside inspection specialist.
“The inspector can prove the ROD is false but cannot determine when the driver was actually driving or resting because the entire record is inaccurate,” he added. “Many of these ELDs are not showing any indication they were edited, which is required by federal regulations. As inspectors are learning of this tactic, they are discovering these types of falsifications on a regular basis.”
“The falsifications are often many hours or days off from what actually occurred," said CVSA inspection specialist Jeremy Disbrow. (Compliance Clips via YouTube)
Some drivers falsify records to conceal hours and extend driving time limits. “These falsifications may result in fatigue or delayed driver reaction times, which significantly increases the risk of a collision,” he said. “A fatigued driver of a vehicle weighing 80,000 pounds is an imminent hazard to everyone sharing the road around that vehicle.”
Disbrow said previous falsifications generally were created by either claiming an incorrect duty status (driving or fueling while off duty), incorrectly applying an exception (personal conveyance, adverse driving) or using multiple logbooks or nonexistent co-drivers. Inspectors were able to determine when a driver was actually resting or driving by comparing supporting documents to the record of duty status.
“The current OOSC [out-of-service criteria] requires an inspector to prove the falsification concealed the driver being over the 11/14/60 or 70-hour rules at the time of the inspection,” he explained. “An inspector can only determine if the driver was over hours at the time of inspection if they can determine when the rest breaks and driving occurred.”
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The current OOSC cannot be applied in ELD tampering because the entire electronic file has been modified. CVSA aims to keep the current language for traditional falsifications and add another OOSC for ELD tampering when an inspector is unable to determine driving/resting times.
CVSA has drafted an inspection bulletin with the new OOSC violation that must be approved this fall. It will require a driver to be prohibited from driving for 10 consecutive hours to ensure adequate rest before resuming the trip.
Oregon has been consistently catching truckers with these new falsified ELDs during inspections after the truckers drove past weigh stations and were turned around by law enforcement officers. Many commercial vehicles driving through Oregon are heading into or out of Idaho and California.
Carla Phelps, interim division commerce and compliance administrator in the , told Transport Topics that inspectors are finding in ELDs “manipulation of data, data sent out of country and being manipulated or showing different drivers who are not driving. Individuals in Middle Eastern countries are manipulating data.”
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From April to late May, ODOT and law enforcement conducted an operation to nab truckers for illegally bypassing an open weigh station. Tickets were issued to 122 drivers, with 25% placed out of service for regulatory and safety violations.
“Inspectors discovered false logs and multiple electronic logging devices that had been tampered with and were producing fictional logs,” ODOT stated. “Commercial truck drivers use logs to record their daily activities, specifically their time spent driving, on duty, off duty and in sleeper cabs. Driver logs are crucial for ensuring compliance with federal hours-of-service regulations, which limit how long drivers can work without taking breaks.”
Oregon officials conducted an earlier weigh station operation March 3-7. Of the 464 commercial vehicles inspected, 23% were placed out of service. Inspectors found evidence of 65 truckers with ELD/logs that were altered and scrubbed.
Kenneth Oke, ODOT commerce and compliance division safety coordinator, said some tampering may delete a couple of days so inspectors at first will see hours available when they are not. Now electronic file records are being checked “against hard data points, scale crossings, fuel receipts, bills of lading, repair receipts,” he added.
Washington law enforcement officers also are seeing this new tampering trend.
“We are experiencing the same logbook violations reported in Oregon. However, our tracking system doesn’t track the type of logbook violations, just that they occurred,” said Sgt. Jermaine Walker, Washington State Patrol spokesperson. “So, we are unable to provide any direct numbers for these falsifications. With every change or advancement in technology, there must also be advancements in investigatory systems. Our team is working with our partners in the CVSA on strategies to counter these types of violations.”
