The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has removed four electronic logging devices from its registry.
On Tuesday, July 23, FMCSA announced that CTE-LOG ELD, ELD VOLT, POWERTRUCKS ELD and TFM ELD had been added to the list of revoked devices.
According to the agency, the ELDs were removed from the approved list because they failed to meet minimum requirements established in 49 CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A, which requires “an ELD without a printer be designed so that the display may be reasonably viewed by an authorized safety official without (the official) entering the commercial motor vehicle.”
Carriers using any of the four revoked ELDs will have until Sept. 21 to replace the units with a compliant device. Failing to do so by the deadline will result in a “no record-of-duty status” and being placed out-of-service.
FMCSA said that in the interim, motor carriers should “revert to using paper logs of logging software” to record their hours-of-service data. The agency added that prior to the deadline, “safety officials are encouraged not to cite drivers using these revoked ELDs” for either not using a registered device or having no record-of-duty status.
According to FMCSA, revoked electronic logging devices can be added back to the approved list if “the ELD provider corrects all identified deficiencies.”
While the option exists for providers to correct any deficiencies, it is typically not the case, with the agency saying it “strongly encourages motor carriers to take the actions listed above now to avoid compliance issues in the event that the deficiencies are not addressed by the ELD providers.”
In total, FMCSA has placed 11 ELDs on the revoked list this year for the same reason. In February, the agency removed five electronic logging devices from the approved list, with another two revoked in May. Just one of those ELDs was added back to the approved list.
There are currently 983 devices on the Registered ELDs list. All of those are self-certified by the manufacturer as being compliant with federal regulations. While the agency does not endorse any of the devices on the registered list, the lack of oversight has created issues for carriers when it comes to maintaining compliance with the mandate.
In November 2022, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association requested the agency establish a comprehensive certification process when it comes to ELDs, saying it has become “abundantly clear” the current self-certification process has been a “major disservice to motor carriers.”
In addition to self-certifying, the agency also allows ELD manufacturers to self-revoke non-compliant devices. There are currently 217 ELDs on the revoked list. Of those, only 26 were added by FMCSA, with the remaining 191 devices carrying a status of “self-revoked.”
“Introducing a comprehensive certification process would likely lead to fewer non-compliant devices being listed,” the Association said. “This would reduce costs for motor carriers, who currently may need to purchase several self-certified devices before finding one they are certain is compliant.” LL
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