Violations of the electronic logging device rule found during roadside inspections since full enforcement kicked in on April 1 are now being used in the Safety Measurement System that drives the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Carrier, Safety, Accountability enforcement program.

The agency announced that clarification on April 16, further stating that such violations are “not being applied retroactively; violations recorded prior to April 1, 2018 will not be counted in SMS.”

FMCSA also stated that motor carriers that have received ELD-related violations will begin to see them reflected in their Hours of Service Compliance BASIC in early May, when the next monthly set of SMS results is released.

In addition, the agency has updatedits complete list of ELD violations and their severity weights in a spreadsheet. Included are several new violations and their associated severity weight. For instance, not having an ELD when one is required is 5 points. So is operating with an ELD that's not registered with FMCSA, or not being able to display the ELD screen outside the cab. Drivers who don't have the required ELD manual, instruction sheet, malfunction reporting requirements, or blank logs get dinged one point for each. "Failing to provide supporting documents in the driver's possession upon request" is deemed a false log and will result in 7 points.

FMCSA noted that its SMS Methodology document will be updated following the release of the May 2018 results.

The agency also pointed out that carriers participating in its Crash Preventability Demonstration Program will continue to see final determinations on SMS for crashes reviewed as part of the program.

FMCSA added that logged-in carriers and enforcement users with crashes determined to be “not preventable” as part of the program can view measures and percentiles calculated with and without those crashes.