If you’re not required to use an ELD on a regular basis, knowing when you do need one can be tough to figure out. Logging your miles on occasion can be hard enough to remember. Knowing what to do when you travel over state lines or make a rare haul is even tougher.
To get clarification on the eight-day ELD exemption for intrastate drivers, we turned to reps from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for help.
Scenario
When a Texas driver operates under the intrastate/long haul rules almost exclusively, paper logs are used track HOS. It may be a 500 mile radius type of operation — or shorter. This is the driver’s typical haul with few exceptions. That same driver may need to go over the state line once or twice a month. Does this fall under the eight-day exemption or is this driver required to use an ELD?
Answer from FMCSA
As long as a driver operates primarily within a single state, uses paper logs to record HOS, and only leaves the state a couple of times a month, the answer is no, an ELD is not required for this driver.
There are two distinct regulations that apply to this situation:In accordance with 49 CFR § 390.3T(a)(1) the rules in this subchapter are applicable to all employers, employees, and commercial motor vehicles that transport property or passengers in interstate commerce.
In accordance with § 395.8(a)(1)(iii)(A): A motor carrier may require a driver to record the driver’s duty status manually, rather than require the use of an ELD, if the driver is operating a commercial motor vehicle: (1) in a manner requiring completion of a record of duty status on not more than 8 days in a 30 day period.
Ultimately, intrastate travel doesn’t get included in the eight-day exception. Only days required to be recorded on a record of duty status, per 49 CFR Part 395, must be used. Traveling into another state a couple days a month keeps you within the eight-day exemption and doesn’t require an ELD.
Even if you’re not required to use an ELD, it might be something you want to consider, especially if you’re consistently on the edge of that eight day rule. A simple plug and play system like Gorilla Safety can keep you compliant in those rare instances and save you and your drivers time. Contact Gorilla Safety to learn how affordable and easy an ELD can be for your fleet.
