The modification or falsification of driving hours on Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) has raised significant concerns within the trucking community. We recently received a question from a truck driver involving a complex situation where changes were made to their ELD, commonly known as an electronic logbook, without their consent.
After informing their dispatcher that they were two hours short of reaching their client, the driver discovered that these two hours had been added to their ELD without approval. This unauthorized modification has led to serious concerns regarding who bears the responsibility—the driver or the company—if the authorities detect this falsification.
Andre Tardif from TEC Transport addressed this question, stating:
“The Canadian technical standard requires that the driver must approve any modifications, regardless of their origin. Let me give you an example. I have clients who occasionally call me because we manage their ELDs, and it’s not uncommon for them to contact me instead of their dispatch. ‘André, I forgot to log my break yesterday. Can you close my day? I stopped at 5 PM.’ No problem. It takes a minute, and it’s done. We go on the platform and make the change. But the platform won’t apply the change until the driver accepts it. They receive a notification of the modification. If they don’t accept it, the log won’t change. But if they do, they sign off on it—they sign the log.”
In the specific case of this trucker, we pointed out that once the modifications were made, the driver seemingly had no further ability to reverse or contest the changes. It appeared that the driver had never actually approved this falsification.
“This is because the operator took control of the tablet. Sometimes, when a client has trouble with their tablet, especially new drivers who aren’t very comfortable with the system, we may do it for them. The client tells me, ‘I don’t understand.’ So, we take the tablet and show them what to do. It’s as if the driver is doing it because I’m on their tablet, within their system. But let’s be clear, this is far from compliant for the driver. Personally, I wouldn’t do something like that. If you did that to me, I would take the time to annotate my log because that’s something you can do. I would note that it wasn’t me who made that change. However, even with annotations, if you drive the two hours you weren’t supposed to, the annotations won’t matter if you get pulled over.”
In response to concerns about potential accidents, we emphasized the inherent risks when driving hours are not properly adhered to.
Andre Tardif responded: “Forget it. If someone modifies your log and you refuse, that’s perfect. No matter what the log says, you can contest it. You provide your written statement, saying this isn’t how you intended to do things. But if you continue to drive despite knowing you’re out of hours, then it’s voluntary. You knew you didn’t have the hours, but you let yourself be convinced by someone. No, no, hold on. We always have a choice in life. Sometimes, the choice isn’t appealing, but there’s always a choice.”
We then noted that most companies comply with the law by simply stating that a driver is out of hours and can no longer drive.
“To be frank, some people might be surprised by what I’m going to say, but we have more issues with drivers than with companies,” Andre Tardif continued. “80% of the problems we have with ELDs involve drivers wanting to do more and changing their hours. Companies frequently call us, not wanting to fire the driver, but needing to know how to manage the situation. Many drivers log off at the client’s site, claiming they’re not working. But the law on driving and working hours is clear: if you are available to your employer and assigned tasks, you are considered to be working. We’re in an industry where we’re allowed to work 14 hours within a 16-hour window, and people still think that’s not enough!”
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