In 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) announced a new rule mandating Electronic Logging Device (“ELD”) use for hour of service (“HOS”) compliance. The rule applies to most motor carriers and drivers who were then required to prepare and retain paper records of duty status. The rule was designed to improve commercial motor vehicle safety and reduce the overall paperwork burden for both motor carriers and drivers by increasing the use of ELDs within the motor carrier industry.

A recent study found that the ELD mandate did improve HOS compliance, but researchers from Northeastern University, the University of Arkansas, and Michigan State University also found that the mandate has had no significant effect on crash counts. According to the study, weekly crashes prior to mandate averaged 1,717, during the light enforcement period increased to 1,912 (by 11.4%), and during the strict enforcement period, dropped to 1,703, (by 0.8%).