ELD Fraud

Arnold & Itkin Research Team – Reviewed by Adam Lewis

The goal of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate was simple: by connecting the logging system to the truck’s engine, driving time would become nearly impossible to hide. The final rule published December 16, 2015, and effective December 18, 2017, requires ELDs to synchronize with the vehicle engine and automatically record driving time. The mandate was intended to address the long history of paper log manipulation that plagued the trucking industry.

The mandate worked, in part. Hours-of-service violations fell sharply after the ELD rollout, a trend the FMCSA attributes to improved compliance. But the reduction in recorded violations does not reflect the complete picture. The commercial pressure to keep trucks moving beyond legal driving limits did not disappear when paper logs did. Carriers and drivers adapted, exploiting gaps in the ELD system and in the regulatory framework’s enforcement capacity.

Federal Prohibitions on Falsification and Tampering

The federal prohibition is unambiguous. Under 49 C.F.R. Part 386, a person who knowingly falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or changes a report or record required under Parts 390 through 399 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations is subject to a maximum civil penalty of $15,846 if the falsification misrepresents a fact that constitutes a safety violation. Carriers that require or permit egregious violations of driving-time limits face additional exposure.

The regulatory framework makes clear that liability for log falsification applies to the carrier, not just the driver. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8, no driver or motor carrier may disable, deactivate, disengage, jam, or otherwise block or degrade a signal transmission or reception, or reengineer, reprogram, or otherwise tamper with an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain data. The FMCSA’s own regulatory guidance is equally direct: “a carrier is liable both for the actions of its drivers in submitting false documents and for its own actions in accepting false documents.”

Falsification Penalty

$15,846

Maximum civil penalty if the falsification misrepresents a fact that constitutes a safety violation, under 49 C.F.R. Part 386

Liability for log falsification applies to the carrier, not just the driver.

The Methods of ELD Fraud

ELD fraud takes several forms, ranging from opportunistic misuse of legitimate features to deliberate, carrier-directed criminal schemes. The most common methods include fictitious co-driver accounts, device disconnection, personal conveyance abuse, and back-end record alteration.

Common Methods

• Fictitious co-driver accounts
• Creating a second driver account that serves as a reset mechanism.
• Device disconnection
• Physically disconnecting the ELD or disconnecting the smartphone from the hardware transmitter during driving periods the carrier wants to conceal.
• Personal conveyance abuse
• Switching from on-duty driving to personal conveyance status once available hours are exhausted.
• Back-end record alteration
• A third-party service or carrier back-office staff member altering ELD records after the fact.

Fictitious Co-Driver Accounts, Known as “Ghost Drivers”

The most consequential form of ELD fraud involves creating a second driver account that serves as a reset mechanism. The structure of the ELD system requires each driver to log in under their own credentials. Driving time accumulates against that account. When the driver approaches the 11-hour limit, the carrier adds a fictitious or inactive co-driver account to the ELD profile. The primary driver logs out and the fictitious account logs in, opening a fresh 11-hour driving window. The real driver never stops. The federal regulations are explicit: no driver or motor carrier may reengineer, reprogram, or otherwise tamper with an ELD so that the device does not accurately record and retain data. Adding a fictitious account to circumvent driving limits is a direct violation of this prohibition.⁴ These multi-driver login schemes are the most deliberate forms of manipulation and the one most directly tied to documented fatal crashes.

The Ghost-Driver Reset

• 1 – Each driver logs in under their own credentials, and driving time accumulates against that account.
• 2 – When the driver approaches the 11-hour limit, the carrier adds a fictitious or inactive co-driver account to the ELD profile.
• 3 – The primary driver logs out and the fictitious account logs in, opening a fresh 11-hour driving window.
• 4 – The real driver never stops.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has documented similar schemes in its inspection bulletins. In one example, a motor carrier created a fictitious ELD account using the same driver’s name but slightly altered credentials by changing a letter from uppercase to lowercase and modifying one digit in the CDL number. The driver alternated between the two accounts to continue driving after exceeding hours-of-service limits.

Disconnecting the Device

A simpler but well-documented method involves physically disconnecting the ELD, or in app-based systems, disconnecting the smartphone from the hardware transmitter during driving periods the carrier wants to conceal.

Personal Conveyance Abuse

Personal conveyance status allows a driver to use the truck for personal, off-duty purposes without the time counting against available driving hours, such as traveling from a truck stop to a nearby restaurant.

Drivers can falsify logs by misusing personal conveyance, such as by switching from on-duty driving to personal conveyance status once their available hours are exhausted in order to:

• Finish delivering current loads,
• Advance their position for the next pickup, or
• Perform other work-related moves, such as driving to a repair shop.

Because personal conveyance is recorded with lower location precision than on-duty driving, it can partially obscure where the truck was and what it was doing during the concealed period.

Back-End Record Alteration

The most technically sophisticated fraud involves a third-party service or carrier back-office staff member altering ELD records after the fact, either through exploits in ELD software or through direct manipulation of the underlying data. This category of fraud has grown significantly since the ELD mandate took effect.

ELD tampering has become so widespread that sales agents are cold-calling motor carriers offering “ELD editing” services. One such company, Logbook Hub, advertises on Facebook that it can “FIX your logbook” for $30 a week. CVSA’s Roadside Inspections Specialist, Jeremy Disbrow, has described a scenario where carriers instruct their drivers to call when the drivers run out of available time. The carrier then “contacts a third party who is able to quickly alter the records to eliminate any violations”, without any record in the ELD file that edits were made.

One industry veteran, Dave Moss, reported that at his last company, his logs were “edited overseas.” When he raised the issue with management, management told him, “We have to do this to make money.

The Economic Pressure Behind the Fraud

The economic stakes explain why this fraud has become industrialized. A carrier operating with falsified logs can move more freight per driver per week than a fully compliant competitor. The resulting cost differential is significant enough to affect contract bids and rate negotiations. Compliant carriers lose work to non-compliant ones. Some industry observers have characterized ELD fraud not just as a safety problem but as market distortion: it penalizes honesty and rewards falsification, with the cost externalized onto the public in the form of crash risk.

Jeremy Disbrow, CVSA’s Roadside Inspection Specialist, stated that these third-party companies are “completely fabricating the record to show a compliant ELD file without any violations, and in many cases, even falsify[ing] electronic supporting documents to match the ELD file.” Federal ELD technical specifications require that any edits to a record be flagged and identifiable to safety officials. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.30, a motor carrier must not alter or erase, or permit or require alteration or erasure of the original information collected concerning the driver’s hours of service, the source data streams used to provide that information, or information contained in any ELD. When records are altered without triggering edit indicators, inspectors confronting the data cannot tell it has been changed.

Inspector Findings

In 2025, falsification of records of duty status was the second most-cited driver violation in CVSA inspection data, with 58,382 violations recorded. And five of the top ten driver violations were related to hours-of-service or ELD compliance. In response, CVSA has designated ELD tampering as the driver focus for its 2026 International Roadcheck.

2025 CVSA Inspection Data

• 58,382 -records-of-duty-status violations
• 2^nd most-cited driver violation was falsification of records of duty status
• 5 of 10 of the top ten driver violations related to hours-of-service or ELD compliance

Roadside inspectors are finding complete altering of records of duty status (RODS) without any indication that they were edited at all. Per ELD technical specifications, driving time detected by the ELD cannot be reassigned to a non-driving duty status. Any edits that are made to the record must show that they were edited such that the edits are identifiable to safety officials. However, in practice, inspectors are encountering altered RODS with no indications of edits.

Disbrow described the detection challenge as follows:

“The falsifications are often many hours or days off from what actually occurred. For example, a fuel receipt and bill of lading may say the driver was in Fargo, N.D., on Jan. 1 at 11 a.m., but the record of duty status shows the driver picked up in Fargo on Dec. 30 and was in Santa Fe, N.M., on Jan. 1. . . . The inspector can prove the ROD is false but cannot determine when the driver was actually driving or resting because the entire record is inaccurate.”

The issue of record falsification is known to CVSA inspectors. Disbrow stated that inspectors around the country agree that ELD fraud is not isolated incidents.

ELD tampering is happening on an “industrial scale”. Businesses are created to help motor carriers elude HOS regulations. “This type of tampering cannot happen unintentionally. It is not a simple error in a record of duty because a driver accidentally made a mistake,” says Disbrow.

New CVSA Out-of-Service Criteria

To address this issue, CVSA updated its North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria to address tampered ELD records. The New OOS Criteria distinguishes between traditional “false log” violations and false-log violations resulting from ELD tampering.

Traditional “false log” violations are misuse of personal conveyance or failure to log into the ELD. These types of violations are easier for inspectors to detect. When “a driver is over hours at the time of the inspection…inspectors can usually determine how much rest was actually taken and whether the driver should be placed out of service.”¹³

More concerning, however, are records of duty status that have been reengineered, reprogrammed, or otherwise tampered with because the ELD does not accurately record or retain the required data. These altered logs may show no indication that any changes were made. For false-log violations that result from ELD tampering, new out-of-service criteria prescribe a specific violation. Drivers will also be placed out-of-service for 10 hours if records have been so thoroughly altered that inspectors cannot determine the last rest period.

• Traditional False Log
• Misuse of personal conveyance or failure to log into the ELD.
• Easier for inspectors to detect.
• Inspectors can usually determine how much rest was actually taken and whether the driver should be placed out of service.
• ELD Tampering
• Records are reengineered, reprogrammed, or otherwise tampered with, which may show no indication that any changes were made.
• Drivers will be placed out-of-service for 10 hours if records have been so thoroughly altered that inspectors cannot determine the last rest period.

Sources

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, “Electronic Logging Devices: Improving Safety Through Technology, Quarter 4, 2023 Report,”.
• Code of Federal Regulations, “Title 49, Part 386, Appendix B (Penalty Schedule: Violations and Monetary Penalties),”.
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, “What is the carrier’s liability when its drivers falsify records of duty status?” Regulatory Guidance for 49 C.F.R. § 395.8, Question 21, issued April 4, 1997, effective May 4, 1997,.
• Code of Federal Regulations, “Title 49, Section 395.8 (Driver’s record of duty status),”.
• Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, “Inspection Bulletin 2026-02: False Records of Duty Status and Electronic Logging Device Tampering,” April 1, 2026,.
• Jenny Glasscock, “How carriers can identify log falsification,” FreightWaves, April 10, 2023,.
• Alex Lockie, “ELD tampering: CVSA drafts new inspections bulletin to combat ‘dangerous trend,'” Overdrive, July 21, 2025,.
• Noi Mahoney, “ELD loopholes fueling fraud, driving good carriers out of business, experts warn,” FreightWaves, November 12, 2025,.
• Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, “CVSA’s International Roadcheck Scheduled for May 12-14,” February 12, 2026,.
• Alex Lockie, “ELD tampering: CVSA drafts new inspections bulletin to combat ‘dangerous trend,'” Overdrive, July 21, 2025,.
• Noël Fletcher, “CVSA, States Eye Crackdown on New ELD Tampering Trend,” Transport Topics, July 11, 2025,.
• Alex Lockie, “ELD tampering: CVSA drafts new inspections bulletin to combat ‘dangerous trend,'” Overdrive, July 21, 2025,.
• Deborah Lockridge, “CVSA Issues New Inspection Guidance on ELD Tampering, False Logs,” Trucking Info, March 3, 2026,.
• Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, “Inspection Bulletin 2026-02: False Records of Duty Status and Electronic Logging Device Tampering,” April 1, 2026,.
• Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, “CVSA’s International Roadcheck Scheduled for May 12-14,” February 12, 2026,.

Freight Forward: DOT’s Roadmap for Trucking’s Next Era

Scopelitis

The U.S. DOT’s newly released 2026 National Freight Strategic Plan may not be the type of document most trucking professionals read cover to cover, but it provides an important look at where federal freight policy is heading over the next several decades. While previous freight strategies often focused heavily on infrastructure needs and longstanding operational challenges, this plan spends considerable time looking ahead at how technology, security, supply chain resilience, and workforce development will shape the future of freight transportation.

The plan begins from a simple reality: trucking remains the foundation of the American economy. Trucks move nearly two-thirds of domestic freight by weight and more than 70 percent by value, connecting manufacturers, ports, distribution centers, retailers, and consumers. USDOT expects freight volumes to continue growing through at least 2050, driven by population growth, e-commerce, energy production, and domestic manufacturing expansion. In other words, regardless of how freight transportation evolves, trucking will remain the industry’s central mode.

The plan addresses familiar concerns such as congestion, safety, and truck parking, but these issues are largely presented as challenges to be managed to support future growth. Instead, some of the most interesting portions of the plan focus on how freight transportation itself may change over the coming years.

One of the clearest themes throughout the plan is the increasing role of technology-enabled freight operations. USDOT envisions a future freight network that is not only larger but significantly more connected and data-driven. The agency highlights investments in digital infrastructure, real-time traffic information, freight data sharing, logistics technology, and intelligent transportation systems designed to improve the efficiency of freight movement across all modes.

For trucking, that means greater access to tools that can optimize routing, reduce delays, improve asset utilization, and provide better visibility into freight movements. While dispatch systems, telematics platforms, and predictive analytics are already common in many fleets, the federal strategy suggests these technologies will become increasingly integrated into the broader transportation network.

The plan also pays significant attention to Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies and connected vehicle systems. These technologies allow trucks to communicate with traffic signals, roadside infrastructure, work zones, and other vehicles using real-time data. In practical terms, future drivers could receive automated warnings about traffic backups, roadway hazards, weather conditions, crashes, or lane closures well before those conditions become visible. For fleets, connected vehicle technologies offer the potential to improve efficiency while further reducing crash risk.

Another notable aspect of the strategy is its balanced discussion of automation. Public discussions often portray autonomous trucks as either an imminent revolution or an existential threat to professional drivers. DOT’s plan takes a more measured approach. It acknowledges that automated trucking technologies are advancing and that testing of highly automated Class 8 trucks has already begun in certain operating environments. At the same time, the plan makes it clear that professional drivers will continue to play a critical role in freight transportation for the foreseeable future.

Instead of focusing solely on driverless operations, the plan emphasizes automation as a tool that can improve productivity, increase safety, and support freight movement in a growing economy. Many of the technologies highlighted—advanced driver assistance systems, automated braking, lane-keeping capabilities, and predictive safety technologies—are already in use in many commercial vehicle fleets today. The freight system envisioned by USDOT is one in which drivers increasingly work alongside sophisticated technology rather than being replaced by it.

The plan also demonstrates a growing federal focus on supply chain resilience. Lessons learned from pandemic disruptions, extreme weather events, and global supply chain bottlenecks have substantially influenced the strategy. USDOT emphasizes the importance of creating freight networks that can adapt to disruptions while continuing to move goods efficiently. For trucking, this means greater attention to freight network redundancy, improved freight planning, stronger intermodal connections, and investments designed to keep essential supply chains functioning during emergencies.

Security emerges as another key priority. The plan specifically highlights the rapid growth of strategic cargo theft, a sophisticated form of freight crime involving fictitious carriers, fraudulent identities, forged credentials, and cyber-enabled schemes that divert loads before they reach their destinations. Unlike traditional cargo theft, these incidents often exploit weaknesses in digital freight matching and transportation management systems. As a result, the plan encourages stronger authentication procedures, enhanced cybersecurity protections, improved information sharing, and greater collaboration between industry and law enforcement.

Finally, the strategy recognizes that even the most advanced freight network still depends on people. The plan acknowledges workforce challenges facing the transportation sector and emphasizes the importance of recruiting, training, and retaining the next generation of transportation professionals. While drivers remain central to this discussion, the workforce conversation extends beyond operators to include technicians, logistics professionals, technology specialists, and other skilled workers needed to support an increasingly sophisticated freight system.

The bottom line is that the 2026 National Freight Strategic Plan is not simply a discussion about highways, congestion, or infrastructure funding. It is a forward-looking vision for how freight transportation may evolve over the coming decades. For trucking, the most important takeaway may be that the future of freight is expected to be more connected, automated, data-driven, and resilient than ever before. The companies and drivers that successfully adapt to those changes will likely be best positioned to thrive as the next generation of freight transportation takes shape.