Florida Intrastate ELD Mandate

After the largest state in the United States of America, Florida queues up to adopt the intrastate Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in the year 2015. However, unlike the state of Texas, the deadline to update to the intrastate electronic logbook is December 31, 2019. This ELD mandate is no different from the Texas mandate and hence intrastate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are required to comply with the rule before January 1, 2020. Before we proceed, let us understand the difference between interstate and intrastate driving.

Interstate and Intrastate Driving

Interstate driving simply means driving from one state to another. Intrastate driving on the other hand is driving between two places within a single state. You could visit the official FMCSA website to determine if you are an interstate driver or an intrastate driver.

Drivers in Florida and Texas are expected to follow in-state hour rules that include bigger limits than the interstate rule. They are;

• Longer period of time for on-duty status
• A total drive time of 12 hours in a day
• Lengthier cumulative limits per week

Interstate trading takes place only when you drive a commercial motor vehicle:

• Between two states or outside the country
• Between two cities or places within a state, but, the vehicle is driven out of the state or country for a short part of the trip
• Within two cities or places of a state, but, the goods being transported or the passengers in the vehicle have begun or will be ending their trip in another state or country.

Intrastate trading is when you do not match with any of the aforementioned criteria.

The ELD mandate comes with rules and safety regulations. It also has exemptions and benefits in specific cases. Let us have a look at what they are;

Rules of the ELD Mandate

• It is important that commercial motor vehicles have ELDs installed before December 31, 2019, in Florida.
• It is a mandate to use the eld devices for log in of hours of service.
• The ELD installed in the vehicle must be FMCSA certified and should match up with the FMCSA defined standard.
• Drivers of the commercial motor vehicles have to carry supporting documents along with the ELD in case of any check by officials.

These documents may include;

• A manual of how the ELD is to be used
• A sheet of data transfer method supported by the ELD and step-by-step instructions to produce and transfer the driver’s records to enforcement
• A sheet of instruction that declares the ELD malfunctioning reporting requirements and recorded procedures during the ELD malfunction
• An 8 day record of blank hours of service graph-grid logs to be used in case of any ELD malfunction

Safety Regulations

There are a few safety regulations a driver must follow. Even if the truck comes under the ELD exemption rule, the driver is required to follow these safety regulations. An ELD will only ensure that these regulations are being followed by maintaining a record of the log time. These safety regulations are as follows;

• A driver can drive his vehicle or be on the road for a maximum of 12 hours daily. This is inclusive of loading and unloading time.
• After completing 12 hours on road, the driver must be off duty for 10 hours consecutively.
• A driver cannot be on duty for more than 14 hours in a day. This includes both on duty and off duty driving time.
• A truck driver must take a stop and rest for half an hour after every 7- 8 hours of driving.
• A truck driver is only permitted 70 hours of work time in 8 days.
• Overdriving, on the other hand will be considered as violation of the law.

ELD Exemptions

It is always a good idea to follow ELD rules of a given state. However, in some cases, it is not very possible to follow these rules. Therefore, there are some exemptions to the same. Enlisted below are a few exceptions of the ELD mandate;

• Transportation of agricultural produce during harvest season within the 150 air-miles area, cannot keep up with majority of the rules in the mandate. Therefore, the transportation vehicle will be exempted from the ELD rules.
• If the commercial motor vehicle is older than the year 2000, the ELD device will not accept the engine motor of that vehicle.

• Towing trucks that deliver commercial motor vehicles are exempted do not have to be in line with the ELD rules.
• Truck drivers that are usually not required to maintain record of duty status (RODS) for reasons like driving within the 150 air- mile area, etc. are not expected to install the ELD.
• Truck drivers with record of duty status of less than 8 days due to short transportation may not install the ELD.

However, it is a must for every trucker to produce proof for a few FMCSA criteria which would ensure that his vehicle falls under the exemption in case he is stopped by an official during the trip.

Benefits of the ELD Mandate

• The state will receive a boost in payroll efficiency because of their 12 hour drive time alternative along with a greater weekly cumulative limit.
• Commercial motor vehicles transporting to Texas benefit from the ELD mandate as both the states already share the same intrastate hour rules and regulations.
• The ELD mandate is bound to keep transport strikes at bay as every driver would get their deserving pay for their work.
• ELDs are the most accessible and most affordable solution in today’s day and age is likely to be adopted by other states in the country as well. We have tried to roundup most popular eld devices on the market today.

As both the states, Florida and Texas are in line with the ELD mandate; it is a compulsion that every commercial motor vehicle passing through either one of these states during a trip is required to have an ELD installed. It is also important that the trucker is in compliance with all the rules relevant to the ELD mandate in order to cross these states without violating any rules and regulations. Violation also results in an eld mandate fines wherever necessary.

For any assistance or additional information on ELD installation, you could visit us at Matrackinc.com