ELD Mandate – How US and Canada are doing things differently?

Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) has become a mandate in both – the United States and Canada. While there are a few similarities between the ELD mandate of the two countries, they also differ in some respects.

We are going to look at ELD mandates of both countries to understand how different they are from each other and what are the similarities that they share.

US ELD Mandate:

It was in the year 2012 when the United States Congress enacted the “Moving Ahead for Progress in 21st Century” bill or commonly referred to as MAP-21.

The ELD final rule is a part of MAP-21, which went into effect in 2017. The rule was passed in a bid to ensure the safety of drivers by creating a safe environment and making it easier to track and manage their duty records.

It mandates the fleet owners to equip their vehicles with ELD in a bid to reduce the paperwork of drivers to log Hours of Services (HOS) and reduce road accidents.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has set a deadline of December 16, 2019, for fleet owners to comply with the rules.

Quick Facts:

• ELD regulations mandate the drivers to use the device to log their Hours of Services (HOS) as per the legal limit
• Cut down on paperwork and improve efficiency
• Reduce driver fatigue, which leads to road accidents
• Aims to save billions of dollars by reducing paperwork
• Fleet owners can track the location of the vehicle and drivers

Exemptions:

As per the FMCSA, three groups are exempted from using ELDs.

1. Drivers who use paper logs for 8 days during a 30-day period
2. Driveaway-towaway drivers
3. Drivers of vehicles manufactured before 2000

The FMCSA has also extended the deadline for certain companies:

1. The United Parcel Service, October 2022
2. Motion Picture Association of America, January 2023
3. Truck Renting and Leasing Association, October 2022

Canada ELD Mandate:

The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) released the final rule outlining the Canadian ELD requirements on June 13, 2019. The fleet industry is expected to adhere to the deadline of June 12, 2021.

While the Canadian ELD mandate is developed to create a safer environment for drivers but the major reason is also to improve cross border trade with the US. Maybe another reason why the Canadian ELD mandate is developed on similar lines to the US ELD mandate.

Quick Facts:

• Standard process to prevent errors, logbook tampering and harassment of drivers
• ELD devices must comply with the regulations and to be certified by a third party
• Doesn’t allow use of electronic recording device beyond the compliance time of June 12, 2021. No Grandfather Clause unlike US ELD mandate.

Exemptions:

1. Those operating under a permit
2. Operated by a carrier, which qualifies to the exemption under the Motor Vehicle Transport Act
3. Subject to a rental agreement of no longer than 30 days
4. Manufactured before the model year 2000 (referring to the engine mostly)

However, there are still some differences and similarities between the ELD mandate of the two countries. Let’s have a look at them.

Differences:

• Data Transfer to Enforcement:

The US ELD mandate requires the vehicles to send a detailed report of eight-day log data to enforcement whereas as per Canadian ELD mandate, carriers are only required to share log data of 14-day.

• Location Data Sources:

As per US ELD mandate, manufacturers are supposed to get the location of events like yard moves, personal conveyance, duty status, unassigned vehicle moves etc. But the Canadian ELD mandate requires the government to supply ELD vendors with just the final file that they can use to get direction and distance.

• Personal Conveyance:

The US ELD mandate doesn’t have any time or distance restrictions when it comes to personal conveyance. However, the Canadian ELD mandate would require the ELD supplier to measure 75km within 24 hours. If it crosses the limit, the system would automatically change the status from personal conveyance to driving.

• Third Party Certification:

The US ELD mandate doesn’t make it mandatory for the ELD suppliers to get third party certification whereas the Canada ELD mandate requires third party certification.

Similarities:

• Data Collection:

ELDs will collect the data and generate a log of Hours of Services (HOS) automatically along with other information about the vehicle, location, driving pattern etc.

• Notifications:

ELDs are required to generate automatic alerts in case of vehicle malfunction or unassigned driving time.

• Information Sharing:

The reports generated are in a standardized format for clarity during inspections by law enforcement officers.