The Federal Government’s long-planned legislation goes live with many still asking questions.
After years of debate, planning, and a pandemic delaying implementation, the Canadian ELD Mandate is set to go live on January 1, 2023.
The purpose of the mandate was to bring hours-of-service recording into the modern digital age. The previous antiquated paper method was rife with the potential for abuse, and discussions had been held as early as 2010 for a better solution.
The ELD mandate was supposed to have been implemented much earlier, but the COVID-19 pandemic affected the rollout in a number of ways and ultimately ended up delaying the process.
However, even after 2 years of gradual rollout or enforcement, many fleet managers or owner/operators still are feeling unsure of what they need to know with regards to ELDs in less than 30 days.
We wanted to cover some basic points in this blog post to help clear the confusion.
- Not all commercial vehicles are subject to the law. Rental trucks, for instance, are not required to be ELD compliant if they are rented for less than 30 days. This exemption is also in place for vehicle models year 2000 or older.
- The different provinces are handling enforcement at varying levels. British Columbia and Quebec do not have a time frame for enforcement, and will not be able to enforce by the January 1 deadline. The Northwest Territories expect to begin enforcement by the end of January, and Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island will not require log books*.
- There are 55 approved ELD devices, but carriers must verify that the device, model #, and software are all compliant.
- Compliance failures might lead to penalties as high as $2,000. Transport Canada is looking to establish a series of penalties under federal Hours of Service rules, and recently heard from the public in a feedback session that ended December 1.
The move to ELD reporting does provide benefits as most ELD devices are GPS-enabled devices, and this allows for data generation that can be used for optimization purposes. If you are looking for ELD compliance, GPS to GO is the authorized Geotab reseller you can depend on for your ELD compliance needs.
If you need to determine if you are subject to ELD mandates, reach out to our team to learn more and how we can help you transition to electronic log books.
