Let’s talk about ELDs and the Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313) 

What do planes, trains and semi trucks all have in common? Regulations to ensure the operators of those vehicles do not work fatigued. The Federal Hours of Service HOS (SOR/2005-313) regulates the amount of time a commercial driver is allowed to drive, be on duty and mandatory off duty time limits. The intent of regulating a driver’s time is an attempt to mitigate the number and gravity of truck crashes by tackling driver fatigue.

The ELD mandate and The Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313):

All carriers holding a Federal Safety Fitness Certificate (SFC) must follow the Federal Hours of Service (HOS) SOR/2005-313, which includes the mandatory use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) for tracking driver hours (HOS 77). It is important to recognize that some provinces in Canada like Alberta and Manitoba have both federal and provincial SFCs, leading to potential variations in HOS regulations between federal and provincial rules. Example, a carrier with a provincial SFC has no cycle limitations and can be on duty a total of 15 hours a day. A carrier with a federal SFC is limited to 70 hrs in 7 days or 120 hours in 14 days in a cycle and on duty a total of 14 hours in a day. Moreover, some provinces like Alberta did not adopt the ELD mandate for carriers with Provincial SFCs. Regardless of the specific type of Safety Fitness Certificate held by a carrier, all drivers operating regulated commercial motor vehicles are obligated to comply with the relevant Hours of Service duty status limits. This underscores the importance of understanding and adhering to the appropriate regulations to ensure compliance.

Responsibilities of motor carriers, drivers, shippers, etc.

The Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313) section 4 outlines the responsibilities of motor carriers, drivers, shippers, consignees, safety officers, dispatchers, and others to help prevent driver fatigue.
They are responsible to ensure a drivers must not drive if:

• driving would be likely to jeopardize the safety or health of the public, the driver or the employees of the motor carrier.
• the driver is the subject of an out-of-service condition.
• the driver, in doing so, would not be in compliance with the Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313).

Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313) rules and ELD Technical Standard requirements:

ELDs record time by the second and track how much time is remaining in a drivers shift. The ELD alerts the driver 30 minutes before a duty status limit is reached, Technical Standard 4.6.4. Drivers and persons listed in Section 4 of the HOS must be trained in the rules of HOS. However, it is no longer imperative to understand the minutia of team split sleeper or deferral calculations because the ELD does and the ELD monitors and alerts the driver to available time. 

Fun facts about ELDs:

• ELD devices are comparative to a black box on an airplane, ELD’s record data and the information is transmitted to the carrier via a dashboard portal and is stored on the cloud. Even if a CMV is destroyed the data remains. 
• Each driver is given a unique identifier (account). ELD accounts are created for drivers and support staff such as mechanics and administrators. Support accounts can never have driving time. Mechanics that conduct test drives must have a driver account and driver file. Time is recorded by the second and violations documented are by the second, 9 hours 59 minutes is not 10 hours off duty in a day. Team or more drivers, authenticate (log in) to the same ELD and time is calculated concurrently. 
• If a CMV is moving without a driver authenticated (logged in) to the ELD an unidentified driving time event is recorded. The entire point of ELDs is to stop unidentified driving time. All driving time in a CMV must be recorded. The ELD prompts the driver to accept or reject unidentified driving and the ELD rejects further entries from the driver until corrected (Technical Standard 4.1.5 (3).  
• The ELD system is continually monitoring ELD functionality and alerts the driver to any connectivity or system errors (data diagnostic events). If the ELD is missing or receiving incorrect data from the ECM or the driver, the ELD will record a data diagnostic error. If data diagnostic errors are not corrected, the errors become a Malfunction and the driver is required to immediately stop and follow the malfunction criteria in the HOS 78. 

Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313) rules and ELD considerations for drivers operating south of latitude 60°N:

On duty and driving limits: driving and on duty time is automatically recorded by the ELD. Team drivers must authenticate (log in) to the ELD, (Technical Standard 4.1.4 b). The ELD monitors and calculates time concurrently for team driving conditions such as; team split sleeper berth.  

• 13 hours total driving time in a day or work shift.
• 14 hours of “on-duty” time (driving and on-duty not driving combined) in a day or work shift. 
• 16 hours in a work shift: In a work shift, there must be at least 8 consecutive hours of rest before starting work again. After working for 16 hours, there should be another 8 consecutive hours of rest before starting a new shift. This ensures that drivers have enough time to rest and recover between shifts.
• Off-duty and sleeper berth time requirements: The driver must select off-duty or sleeper berth status on the ELD. If the driver stops and does not select off-duty or sleeper berth the ELD will automatically put the driver in on-duty status.
• A driver must have 10 hours of off-duty time in a day. (9 hours and 59 minutes is not 10 hours).
• 8 of the 10 hours off duty must be consecutive and the additional 2 hours can be spread throughout the day. The ELD will alert the driver if the off-duty requirements are not met.
• Duty cycles: Cycle is determined by the motor carrier when the drivers ELD account is created. The cycle can be changed by the driver or the motor carrier. The ELD tracks remaining hours in a drivers cycle and how much off-duty time is required to reset or switch to a different cycle Technical Standard 4.5.1.9.
• Cycle 1. A driver must not drive after reaching 70 hours of driving and on-duty time in seven days. 
• Cycle 2. A driver must not drive after reaching 120 hours of driving and on-duty time in 14 days. Additionally, all drivers need to have 24 consecutive hours off in the preceding 14 days before starting a new driving period.  
• To reset cycle 1 drivers must have a minimum of 36 consecutive hours of off-duty time.
• To reset cycle 2 drivers must have a minimum of 72 consecutive hours of off-duty time. 

Federal Hours of Service (SOR/2005-313) rules and ELD considerations for drivers operating north of latitude 60°N:

Operating zone is set by the motor carrier during the drivers account creation (Technical Standard 7.46). The ELD will track and alert the driver 30 minutes before a duty status is reached. North of 60 covers three territories: Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. There are no daily limits only work shift limits. 

• Driving time is 15 hours.
• Work shift is 20 hours.
• On-duty time is 18 hours.
• Off duty is eight consecutive hours. 
• Cycle 1: A driver must not drive after reaching 80 hours of on-duty time in seven consecutive days.
• Cycle 2: A driver must not drive after reaching 120 hours on duty in 14 consecutive days. 
• Cycle resets: Commercial drivers can end their current cycle and start a new one if they first take these off-duty times:

• To reset cycle 1 drivers must have a minimum of 36 consecutive hours of off-duty time.
• To reset cycle 2 drivers must have a minimum of 72 consecutive hours of off-duty time. 

Off-duty deferrals: Technical Standard 7.44 and 7.45

A driver is allowed to defer 2 hours of off duty time to the following day. This allows drivers to obtain two additional driving and on-duty hours in a 24-hour period (Day 1). Then, they can take the required two hours off immediately the next day (Day 2).

The ELD will track and alert the driver to the time requirements ensuring compliance to the regulation. 

Certified ELDs are now required for commercial carriers as part of the law. Carriers must understand how ELDs work and how to review the data they generate. Previously, drivers used paper logbooks to track their time, with the burden of accurate recording falling on the driver. Carriers were responsible for monitoring these logs, but they provided historical information. With ELDs offering real-time certified data, it is now the motor carrier's duty to actively monitor drivers through the ELD's features and confirm the accuracy of their records of duty status (RODS). In case of a serious collision, the carrier can no longer shift blame to the driver, claiming ignorance of any violations of driving hours, as they are now expected to constantly monitor and verify compliance using the ELD data.