Late to the Party 2.0: Widespread ELD Tampering

CVSA Inspection Bulletin 2026-02 False Records of Duty Status and Electronic Logging Device Tampering

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has released Inspection Bulletin 2026-02 addressing enforcement distinctions between false Records of Duty Status (RODS) and Electronic Logging Device (ELD) tampering.

In North America’s regulatory structure:

• Transport Canada establishes federal regulation in Canada, with coordination through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA).
• In the United States, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) oversees federal hours-of-service and ELD requirements.
• The CVSA is like NAFTA it harmonizes roadside enforcement across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

This bulletin is important because it provides structured enforcement interpretation in an area that has historically lacked consistency — distinguishing between ordinary falsification and data integrity compromise.

False Record of Duty Status

§ 395.8(e)(1) (U.S.) and 86(2) – Canada

A false RODS occurs when the recorded duty status does not reflect actual activity, but the timeline can still be reconstructed.

Personal conveyance misuse is one example — but not the only one.

Common falsification scenarios include:

• Operating the vehicle without logging into the ELD (unidentified driving)
• Recording sleeper-berth or off-duty status while the vehicle is in motion
• Misuse of personal conveyance while advancing a load

If the inspector can determine when the driving occurred and correct the record:

• The false RODS violation is cited.
• If the corrected record places the driver over allowable limits, the driver is placed Out of Service.
• If hours remain available, the driver may proceed.

The key factor is whether compliance can be reconstructed.

Reengineered, Reprogrammed, or Tampered RODS

§ 395.8(e)(2) (U.S.) and 86(3) – Canada

Tampering is fundamentally different.

Here, the issue is not an incorrect duty status selection — it is compromised data integrity.

Examples include:

• Creation of fictitious driver accounts
• Fraudulent credential use
• Improper reassignment of driving time
• Alteration of automatically recorded driving
• Timeline shifting inconsistent with supporting documentation

The bulletin provides an example where fuel receipts proved activity in one state while the RODS reflected off-duty status in another, with approximately 21 hours of driving unaccounted for.

When required ELD data has been altered or cannot be relied upon, enforcement escalates.

If the inspector cannot determine actual driving and rest periods:

• In the U.S., the driver is placed Out of Service for 10 consecutive hours.
• In Canada, out-of-service periods may extend to 24, 36, or 72 hours depending on the inspector.

At that point, the question is no longer whether a driver exceeded hours — it becomes whether compliance can be verified at all.

Context Within the Broader ELD Discussion

This bulletin does not arise in isolation.

In a previous article, “Late to the Party: The U.S. Wakes Up to Widespread ELD Tampering,” I examined how ELD manipulation practices had already been identified across the industry before formal enforcement clarification was issued.
https://raventransportationsafetyconsulting.com/late-to-the-party-the-u-s-wakes-up-to-widespread-eld-tampering/

That analysis identified recurring indicators such as improper unidentified driving reassignment, credential sharing, manual driving entries where automatic capture should occur, and discrepancies between supporting documents and recorded duty status.

The CVSA bulletin now formalizes the enforcement distinction between:

1. Reconstructable false RODS, and
2. Data integrity compromise.

That distinction is significant for both carriers and enforcement.

Interpretation and Guidance Gaps

The CCMTA and Transport Canada have previously issued technical guidance relating to Data Diagnostic Events in Table 4 of the Canadian ELD Technical Standard. However, that guidance has not consistently filtered through to industry stakeholders in Alberta.

As a result, carriers have faced ELD violations for several years without a comprehensive interpretation framework clarifying how enforcement should evaluate data structure, transmission methods, and Technical Standard compliance.

Inspection Bulletin 2026-02 provides a foundation that Canadian jurisdictions can use in developing consistent interpretation guidance.

Final Observations

Full U.S. ELD enforcement began in 2019.
Full Canadian enforcement followed in 2023.

Structured regulatory interpretation of falsification versus tampering is only now being clarified.

This bulletin signals a shift toward evaluating not only hours compliance, but the integrity of the underlying ELD dataset itself.

For carriers, that distinction matters.