Feds remove five ELDs from registered list

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has removed five electronic logging devices from its approved list.

On Thursday, Feb. 29, the agency announced that CI ELD LOGS, CN ELD, KSK ELD, TT ELD 30 and TT ELD 1010 had been removed from the list of registered ELDs.

According to FMCSA, the five devices were revoked because they failed to meet minimum requirements established in 49 CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A, requiring “that 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 the now-revoked ELDs will have until April 29 to replace the devices to maintain compliance. The agency said in the interim, motor carriers should “revert to using paper logs of logging software” to record their hours-of-service data until they upgrade to 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.

Since the electronic logging mandate took effect, FMCSA has allowed companies to self-certify the devices. Currently, there are 917 devices listed on the Registered ELDs list.

According to the agency, the devices can be added back to the approved list after being revoked if “the ELD provider corrects all identified deficiencies.” While this may be a good thing for device manufacturers, the federal regulations that govern how a device is added back to the registered list leave something to be desired.

In fact, two of the five devices revoked by FMCSA – CI ELD LOGS and KSK ELD – had previously been revoked and added back to the approved list.

The process is fairly straightforward. ELD providers who have a device revoked have 30 days to submit a response to the agency explaining:

• The reasons the ELD provider believes the facts relied on by the agency, in proposing removal, are wrong
• Or the action the ELD provider will take to correct the deficiencies that FMCSA identified

If the ELD provider “submits a timely response,” the agency will “review the response and withdraw the notice of proposed removal, modify the notice of proposed removal or affirm the notice of proposed removal, and notify the ELD provider in writing of the determination.”

Federal regulations state the agency “may request from the ELD provider any information that FMCSA considers necessary to make a determination under this section.” Despite this, the agency has allowed multiple devices in the past year to be added back to the registered list only to be revoked again – raising questions about the thoroughness and efficacy of the process.

Those concerns underscore the stance of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which has said a retooling of the certification process is long overdue.

“It has become abundantly clear the decision to allow self-certification has been a major disservice to motor carriers, as faulty and ultimately noncompliant devices have been listed on the agency’s registry,” OOIDA wrote as part of comments to FMCSA in November. “While mandating the use of ELDs, the federal government must take the necessary steps to ensure all devices listed on the registry are compliant.”

There are currently 185 devices on the revoked list. LL