Canadian ELD Mandate - What you need to know

The Canadian Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate was announced by Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Transport, on June 13, 2019.  Canada is requiring the use of ELDs by federally regulated commercial truck and bus operators with a compliance date of June 12, 2021.

The Canadian ELD mandate requires commercial vehicles to capture Hours of Service with an ELD instead of manually recording hours in paper logs.  As of now, there will not be a grandfather period for fleets already using AOBRD to transition to ELDs.  Transport Canada estimates the mandate affects 153,000 Canadian trucks and drivers.  Of those, 86,000 are involved in cross-border trucking and must also comply with the FMCSA US ELD mandate.

Fleets should familiarize themselves with the Canadian ELD functionality requirements – there are many similarities to the US version that went into effect in December 2017:

Logbook Edits – Drivers will be able to edit their logs (with required annotations) and will be required to certify their record of duty status. Carriers will be able to suggest edits to a driver log; however, they will require the driver’s approval.

Data Sharing – Data will need to be easily—and securely—shared with law enforcement via email to save time and reduce confusion.  There is a requirement for a certified device to have a single-step electronic record of duty status transfer process at roadside.

Data Collection – Devices will collect additional data including engine power status, vehicle motion status, vehicle location, engine hours, miles driven, driver CDL#, truck VIN#, and more 

Driver Alerts – Devices will be required to prompt the driver(s) logging in to a vehicle with a warning indicating the existence of new unassigned driving time and also alert the driver when a device malfunction is detected.

Driver Duty Status – In addition to the various duty statuses already provided for in the HOS regulations, the ELD will provide for the special driving conditions of On-Duty Yard Move and Off-Duty Personal Conveyance.  Both of these special driving conditions allow for vehicle movement without counting against allotted drive time.  (Personal Conveyance will be subject to the current limitations of the Canadian Hours of Service rules).

Over the past 4 years, we have perfected the Coretex ELD solution and deployed our award-winning solution in thousands of vehicles across the US and Canada.  Coretex is well prepared to assist fleets with their Canada ELD compliance:

• Several Canada freight customers already use our ELD solution, hundreds more use AOBRD
• Many US ELD complaint customers currently deliver to Canada
• Coretex’s ELD solution has already integrated established Canadian rule sets
• Canada Coretex staff supported by 5 certified dealer/carriers are trained and ready to sell ELD product
• Established network across entire country for service and repairs
• Committed to achieving third-party certification (Canadian requirement) when accredited certification body is established by Transport Canada

For more information about the proven Coretex ELD solution, click here.