CHP Issues Final Rule Mandating ELD’s
On November 13th, the California Highway Patrol dropped their final rule mandating Electronic-on-Board (ELD) recorders for hours-of-service compliance for California only motor carriers. The effective date of the rule for effected motor carriers is January 1, 2024.
As soon as the final rule was published, the Association began to receive calls from members who were being spammed by ELD providers and being told there were no exemptions or exceptions to the mandate, and they had to install an ELD in their truck(s). To be nice, we’ll say any ELD company saying that to you is lying. We dealt with the same issue when the federal mandate went into effect five years ago.
As we reported in the Summer issue of WTN, many of our members will be unaffected by this mandate. If you operate under California’s short-haul exception (100 air miles/12 hour on-duty period), an ELD is not required.
If you exceed the short-haul limitations, you are required to complete a paper log (record-of-duty status or RODs) for that day. You are allowed to switch to paper RODs, but for no more than 8 days in any 30-day period without needing an ELD.
Other notable exceptions to the mandate are:
- The driver is in a driveaway-towaway operation, as defined in Section 303 of the Vehicle Code, in which the vehicle being driven is part of the shipment being delivered
- The vehicle being driven was manufactured before model year 2000, as reflected in the vehicle identification number (VIN) and as shown on the vehicle’s registration (this is mostly useful to owners of trucks that have a CARB low-use exemption)
If you have any questions related to this mandate, call the office (909-758-5060) and ask to speak to Brenda or Joe.
If you are required to have an ELD, the WSTA is recommending you contact a reliable supplier such as our affiliate Matrack.
