The short-haul exemption is designed for drivers with a local route who work regular hours and return home every night. The rule allows these drivers and their carriers to avoid certain Hours of Service requirements as well as the ELD requirements set in the FMCSA's ELD mandate.
Truck drivers have been using records of duty status (RODS) for over eighty years now. In the past, drivers would fill out a physical logbook for their RODS. But nowadays this is done with an electronic logbook since it can keep better track of your data and hours-of-service (HOS) rules.
According to the ELD requirements, electronic logging devices are supposed to log certain events as malfunctions or data diagnostic events if the device can't acquire all required data items. Some ELD providers will indicate these items as a "malfunction" or "data diagnostic" with little information about the cause. This can confuse and worry users into thinking their ELD is broken and leaving them exposed for DOT violations for not having a working ELD.
Like every piece of technology available there will be times when an ELD starts to malfunction. The FMCSA has set specific rules in the ELD requirements for what carriers and drivers should do to remain compliant in the event of an ELD malfunction. In the ELD mandate the FMCSA provides specific steps for carriers and drivers to follow in order to protect themselves in the event of an ELD malfunction.
The ELD mandate was introduced in December 2017, requiring all commercial motor vehicles to keep their Hours of Service (HOS) logs electronically. This was a huge shift from the old way of keeping track of HOS logs using paper logbooks. Years into the ELD mandate, there is still some confusion on what it is, who is exempt, what is required to be collected, and what restrictions are placed on manufactures.
