ELD Mandate Overview
It is important to know that electronic logging
devices (ELDs) do not fully automate driver
logs, but are a tool to simplify the process
of data collection for a driver’s logs. For
example, you still have to manually set your
duty statuses to “Off Duty,” “Sleeper Berth,”
and so on. You also have to manually certify
your records.
The BIT ELD adapter allows your vehicle to
communicate with the Blue Ink Tech app over
a wireless connection. To support compliance
with the FMCSA’s ELD mandate, it automates
the collection of the following data items:
1. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
2. Odometer mileage
3. Engine hours
4. Engine on/off status
5. Vehicle in-motion status
These are the only data items from the
vehicle’s database that are used to support
compliance with the ELD mandate.
The VIN is used to automatically associate
your records with a specific vehicle. If you
move your BIT ELD adapter to a different
vehicle, it will automatically read the new VIN
and use the new VIN in your logs. The
odometer and engine hour readings are used
to automatically fill in fields in your driver logs.
The engine on/off status and vehicle in-motion
status are used as triggers to automatically
record events. A record will be automatically
added to the BIT ELD adapter's logs when the
engine is turned on or turned off. This does not
cause a change of duty status, but will show as
a BIT ELD adapter
-
recorded event in your
driver logs.
When the vehicle’s wheel speed exceeds
five
miles per hour
, a duty status of “Driving” will
be automatically recorded. If the vehicle is no
longer in motion, the BIT ELD adapter will
automatically record a duty status change to
“On Duty Not Driving” after 6 minutes if the
driver does not manually change their duty
status.
When the BIT ELD adapter detects that the
vehicle is in motion, the time must be
recorded as either driving, personal use of the
commercial vehicle, or a yard move. The time
when the vehicle is in motion cannot be
shortened or changed to a non-moving status
such as Off Duty, Sleeper Berth, or On Duty
Not Driving. This is all part of the ELD
mandate. The BIT ELD adapter does not
store a driver’s speed.
Your records are collected and stored on your
smartphone or tablet with the Blue Ink Tech
app. However, the BIT ELD adapter has
internal memory to store events when not
connected to the Blue Ink Tech app. These
records will be associated with the
“Unidentified Driver” account and will be
visible to all drivers of that vehicle on the
Home screen of the Blue Ink Tech app.
More details are presented in the
following
sections.
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