Q. How does a driver edit or annotate a record?
A. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provides specific details on editing and annotating electronic logging device (ELD) records.
The FMCSA defines an edit as a change to the ELD record that does not overwrite the original record. An annotation is a note related to a record, update, or edit that is input into the ELD. All edits must be annotated to show the reason for the change.
Drivers and fleet personnel can make limited edits to an ELD record to correct a mistake or add missing information. However, the driver must confirm or “certify” the accuracy of any carrier edit. The ELD will keep the original unedited record along with the edits and annotations. Drivers have the right to approve or refuse to certify the change. If the driver refuses, that is reflected in the ELD record. An edit is not accepted until the driver confirms an edit and resubmits his or her record of duty status (RODS).
The FMCSA notes a driver can make annotations to indicate the beginning and end of a period of authorized personal commercial vehicle use, or yard moves, as well as other annotations related to special driving categories. However, no one can edit or change driving time, ELD malfunctions, intermediate log, vehicle engine power up/shut down, and driver logins/logouts. Only the driver can make edits, fleet managers cannot.
It is important to note that even after edits are made, the original record is kept, and a driver can access it for six months.
When team drivers are involved, the driver account associated with the driving time records may be edited and reassigned between the team drivers. This can be done if there was a mistake resulting in a mismatch between the actual driver and the driver recorded by the ELD, and if both team drivers were indicated in one another’s records as a co-driver. However, each co-driver must confirm the change for the corrective action to take effect.