Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/845079
July 2017 | Overdrive | 35 O ne of the less publicized but highly critical aspects of the electronic logging device mandate involves a new platform that will transfer ELD data from roadside to a central federal system. The electronic record of duty sta- tus data platform is supposed to be working by Dec. 18. On that date, inspectors from state Departments of Transportation and police departments will be required to begin enforcing the ELD mandate's requirement for most drivers to use an ELD. They're also supposed to interpret whether an ELD indicates a potential hours of service violation, which in many cases will not be as simple as it sounds. One thing has been made clear, however, by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Come Dec. 18, running without an ELD if you're not exempt will net you eight hours out of service at roadside. FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne didn't directly answer a question about whether he suspected most states would have their inspectors up to speed on access points to a planned central fed- eral system for ELD data transfer and analysis, or even whether the technology to facilitate the system at the state level would be in place. "FMCSA is planning to have data transfer capability ready by December of 2017. If data transfer is unavailable, the printout or display options [one of which is required of all ELDs] will be used to enforce hours of service." A variety of factors suggest those print/display backup methods will be important in most log checks. As of press time, the agency was expected to deliver elements of its planned data-transfer protocol to ELD vendors to test against as early as late June, among the first steps toward roll- out of the new eRODS program to states. With the electronic data transfer system, FMCSA in some ways is central- izing hours enforcement in a federal sys- tem for most methods of data transfer. The agency has contracted a third party to develop software housed in the federal system to analyze logs sent from the field through its central system for possible violations. State inspectors theoretically then would investigate any flagged potential violations. Many states, however, currently aren't anywhere near 100 percent sure what that piece will look like – or how exactly they would interact with it. The ELD mandate specified two types of devices, each type required to sup- port at least two data-transfer methods. For local-transfer devices, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 are the required methods. For telematics-type devices – most of the ELDs on the market today, with an internet connection – the ability to upload and email hours data is required. FMCSA hoped states would support at least one method from each pair at the roadside, thus accommodating any device. As a backup, the rule likewise required every ELD to either include a printing capability or display current and previous-seven-days hours infor- mation with a graph grid analogous to today's paper log books. "We have not determined the primary data transfer method we will support," says Fran Clader of the California Presenting logs at roadside Running with an e-logs device is one thing. Communicating e-log data to an inspector is quite another. With five months to go, states' data transfer plans vary widely, and an ambitious federal program remains untested. BY TODD DILLS THE SHIFT THE SHIFT ENFORCEMENT