Car transporters, this topic sounds quite familiar to all car transporters who are thinking long term in the industry.

Here are some ideas you need to hear directly from FMCSA about the ELD rule:

Commercial drivers use ELD with the requirement to prepare:

HOS – Hours of Service

RODS – Service Status Records

ELD will also need to be certified and registered with FMCSA, as well as have supporting documents for car drivers / carriers to carry on the truck.

So as of December 18, 2017, a driver wearing an ELD must have an ELD information packet on board the commercial motor vehicle (CMV).

Speaking of which, an ELD can be on a smartphone or other wireless device if the device meets the technical specifications of the ELD rule.

Data storage:

For six months, a motor carrier must maintain both ELD records of:

hours services data

a backup of that data on a separate device

The carrier must ensure that these records are stored securely to protect the privacy of the driver.

An ELD automatically records the following data items at certain intervals:

dated

hour

Location information

engine hours

vehicle miles

identification information for the driver

authenticated user

vehicle

motor carrier

Location data must be logged by an ELD at 60 minute intervals when the vehicle is in motion, the driver turns the engine on and off, changes the service status, and indicates personal use or yard movements.

Also, note that an ELD should automatically switch to drive mode once the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) moves up to a set speed threshold of five miles per hour. As a result, the moving state should not be set higher than five miles per hour. The vehicle will be considered stopped once its speed drops to zero miles per hour and remains at zero miles per hour for three consecutive seconds.

Guess what else?

The ELD must convert the automatically captured vehicle position in latitude / longitude coordinates into geolocation information indicating the approximate distance and direction to an identifiable location corresponding to the name of a nearby city, town or village, with an abbreviation of the state.

CMV – ELD motor timing

An ELD must be integrally synchronized with the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) engine. Engine timing means monitoring engine operation to automatically capture engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven, and engine hours.

Vehicle performance? Not really.

Yes, the ELD rule allows, but does not require, to warn or notify drivers when they approach their HOS limits.

ELD data export

Since all the output of the ELD data file will be a standard comma delimited file, a driver can import the data output file into Microsoft Excel, Word notepad, or other common tools. A driver will also be able to access ELD records through a screen or hard copy, depending on the ELD design.

Bluetooth feature

If the driver is using a “local” ELD with Bluetooth capabilities, the authorized safety officer will activate Bluetooth on his computing device and the driver will initiate the electronic Bluetooth transfer of the driver’s ELD data to the safety officer’s computing device.

The officer will provide a Bluetooth pairing code for the driver to enter the ELD for data file transfer.

Here’s an interesting list that you can check out: ELD Compliance Checklist

The plug-in device to your truck’s ECM communicates the relevant data to your smartphone’s software; the software enables the log to work as well as electronic pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports.

The ECM plugin communicates with your smartphone, like many others, via Bluetooth, and smartphone guide apps are currently available on the iOS and Android platforms. Data management is done through a web-based software program, users create a single account.

Most ELDs pair a relay connected to the motor with another device, often an operator’s smartphone or tablet, hence the common designation of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).

For such devices, some contain a cellular connection within the relay connected to the motor, others do not.

For those that don’t, the additional costs incurred for data plan charges on a smartphone are generally not reflected here.

Just a quick overview for car carriers:

We are covering only new information from the industry so that all auto transporters can read it and get a general idea; For a full and detailed explanation of specific cases, feel free to visit FMCSA for sure.

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