New instructions show how inspectors can check if driving logs have been changed or faked.
Starting April 1, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will take truckers and companies off the road if they break the rules by changing or tampering with electronic logging devices (ELDs), which track driving hours.
By law, every truck driver must keep a daily log showing when they are driving, resting, or off duty. If a driver does not fill out this log, keeps a fake log, or doesn’t keep it up to date, the driver or company can get in trouble with the law.
Changing ELD data is even more serious than just writing false information in a paper log book, says safety expert Jeremy Disbrow.
Disbrow has decades of experience in commercial motor vehicle safety, both as a police officer and in his current role as a CVSA roadside inspection specialist.
Disbrow explained that, starting April 1, if inspectors find evidence that a driver’s ELD has been tampered with, the driver will be taken off the road immediately for at least 10 hours.
CVSA has a new guide for inspectors to help them spot ELD tampering more easily. If they find it, the driver must stop driving for at least 10 hours right away.
Disbrow said ELD tampering is often done without detection, resulting in:
- Drivers far exceeding regulated limits behind the wheel — significantly heightening the risk of fatigued driving and collisions.
- Financial advantages to drivers and motor carriers who undercut legitimate business rates charged by those who adhere to safety regulations.
Sometimes, companies make drivers break the rules and work very long days—sometimes 19 hours or even more. Honest companies and drivers can’t compete with those who cheat and make their drivers work up to 90 hours a week.
This kind of cheating is becoming more common, making highways less safe for everyone and making it harder for honest companies to stay in business.
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The guide helps inspectors find fake electronic logs that are very hard to spot because the data looks normal. Inspectors can only catch this by comparing the logs with other paperwork, like fuel receipts or delivery records.
People changing the ELD data will adjust GPS locations, times, and other details to make it look like the driver followed the rules. Often, there’s no sign that anything was changed, even though the law says edits are supposed to be recorded.
One way drivers cheat is by not logging into the ELD, so the driving time goes unrecorded or appears to be someone else driving. For example, a driver might drive for an hour while the ELD says they are asleep, which is not allowed.
Some companies make fake ELD accounts using different versions of a driver’s name, like ‘John. Appleseed’ and ‘j.appleseed.’ This way, a driver can keep driving after they should have stopped for rest.
“The driver would alternate logging in to each account to continue driving after hours-of-service limits were met. It is the inspector’s responsibility to prove/verify that a fictitious account was used and document verification efforts in the inspection notes,” according to the bulletin.
Inspectors sometimes find proof of cheating by comparing electronic logs with things like fuel receipts. For example, a log might say a driver was off duty in Arizona, but a fuel receipt shows they bought fuel in Missouri at the same time, proving the log is fake.
In some cases, logs are shifted by several days, making it impossible to know when the driver was actually driving or resting. This is dangerous because the real hours on the road aren’t clear and can hide unsafe driving.
If inspectors can’t determine the actual driving times, they will require the driver to stop working for at least 10 hours.
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More cheating is happening because some ELDs are made to be easy to tamper with, according to Disbrow.
Some ELD companies even help change the data when drivers or companies ask them to, especially during inspections.
Disbrow said that inspectors across the country have helped raise awareness of this problem by identifying and reporting tampering.
CVSA is working with the government to stop this kind of cheating.
When inspectors report a problem, the government quickly investigates and can ban ELD devices that allow cheating.
Tampering with ELDs is a crime in some places and can lead to big fines or criminal charges.
