A recent article published by Overdrive has once again brought ELD tampering into the spotlight. While the U.S. passed its ELD Mandate in 2017, it’s taken nearly eight years to fully acknowledge what many in the industry have known for a long time: widespread, organized manipulation of ELD data is not only happening—it’s become its own nefarious industry.
As the article outlines, ELD data manipulation is now a business in itself. Let’s add this to the growing list of concerning trends in the commercial transportation sector: shape-shifting “chameleon” carriers, drivers under the “Driver Inc.” model to avoid taxes, unpaid workers making less than minimum wage, immigration fraud, shady consultants selling permanent residency, unregulated trucking schools handing out licences to unqualified individuals, multi-layer freight brokers undercutting rates and disappearing into bankruptcy, and rampant equipment and cargo theft. Now, ELD data manipulation joins the club.
The problem isn’t just the manipulation—it’s the lack of understanding from regulators who are tasked with enforcing Hours of Service (HOS) rules. Far too often, enforcement bodies lack the technical training to understand how ELD data works and how it aligns with HOS regulations. This is why the recent push from the U.S. to address tampering only underscores a major gap here in Canada: the ongoing absence of a clear, unified interpretation guide from the CCMTA or Alberta Transportation.
What’s Happening in the U.S.?
The CVSA’s Driver-Traffic Enforcement Committee recently took two important steps to combat fatigue-related incidents tied to tampering:
Frankly, there’s no need for another committee recommendation. I have an Excel template with all the required column headings and corresponding tables from the Technical Standard. It’s all right there—let’s stop pretending this is rocket science.
Why the U.S. ELD System is Failing
The core issue in the U.S. stems from the lack of third-party certification for ELD devices. In the States, ELDs are self-certified by the manufacturers. That opens the door for devices to be programmed with backdoors, allowing driving time manipulation and data tampering.
In contrast, Canada requires third-party certification to ensure ELDs meet the Technical Standards. While tampering does happen here, it's harder and leaves a bigger digital footprint. Most of what we encounter in Canada involves unplugged ELDs or devices not connected to the truck’s ECM.
One key difference? Canada built the definition of tampering directly into the federal HOS regulations, unlike the U.S.
Canada's Regulatory Approach
Federal Hours of Service – SOR/2005-313
Section 86(3):
No motor carrier shall request, require or allow any person to, and no person shall, disable, deactivate, disengage, jam or otherwise block or degrade a signal transmission or reception, or re-engineer, reprogram or otherwise tamper with an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain the data that is required to be recorded and retained.
This is reinforced in the Contraventions Regulations (Schedule XVIII – SOR/2023-137):
Even though not every province uses Schedule XVIII, similar charges exist across jurisdictions. During roadside or scale inspections, drivers must produce the current day plus the previous 14 days of logs. If tampering is detected for each day, that’s up to $14,000 in fines for the driver, plus out-of-service status. Carriers can face $28,000 in penalties, plus additional sanctions.
And keep in mind—this is real-time data. If a driver is tampering, the carrier knows it.
The Bigger Picture
Let’s be clear: ELD tampering is not new. It started the day after the U.S. ELD mandate went live in 2017. The FMCSA only began revoking non-compliant devices in 2023—long after the manipulation was deeply rooted.
According to Overdrive, the FMCSA and CVSA are working on an out-of-service inspection standard for tampering, but it won’t be operational until 2026. That’s three more years of vulnerable data enforcement. In the meantime, perhaps the FMCSA should consider involving the U.S. Department of Justice—because selling manipulated ELD data online for a fee? That’s wire fraud.
Under 18 U.S. Code § 1343, wire fraud is defined as:
“...a scheme to defraud or obtain money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmitted by wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce.”
Conclusion
Until regulators on both sides of the border catch up with the technology they’re meant to enforce, we’ll keep seeing bad actors exploit the system. The tools to fight tampering exist. The data is available. The problem is enforcement training—and the willingness to learn to use the data properly.
