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What is the California ELD mandate?

California has been at the forefront of adopting stringent regulations to improve road safety and compliance in the trucking industry. While the federal government implemented the ELD mandate for interstate trucking companies in 2017, California codified the mandate in August 2018, with enforcement beginning in October of that year. Now, California has extended this requirement to intrastate operations, with full enforcement set to begin at the start of 2024.

The exceptions to the California ELD mandate are the same as the FMCSA’s federal mandate and include:

  • Drivers who are operating under short-haul operations and aren’t required to keep record of duty status (RODS). Time cards can be used in place of ELD. 
  • Certain driveaway-towaway operations in which the vehicle being driven is part of the shipment being delivered or in which the vehicle being transported is a motorhome or a recreational vehicle trailer. 
  • Drivers who maintain RODS for eight days or fewer in 30-day rolling periods and short-haul drivers who occasionally take longer trips. But if you exceed the short-haul exemption more than eight times within 30 days, you’ll need an ELD for the rest of the cycle. 
  • Drivers of motor vehicles manufactured before the year 2000.

What is the penalty for ELD violations under the California ELD mandate?

Vehicles that are not in compliance with the ELD mandate in California may be placed out-of-service for 10 hours for failing to have a record of duty status.

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