Drivewyze to Operate Weigh Station Bypass Service in California

The U.S. Interstate 80 eastbound Cordelia weigh station now offers Drivewyze weigh station bypass service. Photo: Drivewyze

Drivewyze has announced that it has been awarded the contract to operate its Drivewyze PreClear weigh station bypass service in California.

The company is working to install its service with existing weigh-in-motion scales, underway at 37 locations where the state has chosen to operate bypass services. Drivewyze expects the service to be fully operational in the state within 60 days.

The 37 sites supporting PreClear are located on many of the state's major transportation routes, according to Drivewyze, adding to the company's 650 service sites in 42 states and provinces throughout North America.

“Carriers want more bypasses and they demand the best customer service. Our partnership with California helps deliver on these points,” said Brian Heath, president and CEO of Drivewyze. “Our expansion into California is welcome news to fleets and drivers that operate in that state. We're looking forward to helping ease congestion in and around California weigh stations, improving freight flow throughout the state and making the highways safer.”

The PreClear weigh station bypass application is available pre-loaded on many popular in-cab telematics and ELD devices and can also be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for Apple and Android devices.

“We are excited to introduce transponder-free bypass services in California,” said Heath. “Local fleets have been demanding more choice, and our national and regional customers have long awaited the opportunity to receive bypass services in the state.”

Related: Weigh Station Bypass Saves Time for Car Hauler

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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 ...Read the rest of this story

Q. What is being done to prevent drivers from being harassed into committing an HOS violation?

A. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has included provisions protecting drivers using electronic logging devices (ELDs) from being harassed into violating Hours of Service (HOS) regulations.

If a driver was subjected to harassment he or she may file a written complaint with the FMCSA. As a further check on any potential harassment, the FMCSA limits the edits that can be made to an ELD record, and the inability to change the original ELD record.

If a driver feels he or she has been harassed, a written harassment complaint must be filed no later than 90 days after the harassment took place. Complaints must be filed in writing with the National Consumer Complaint Database (http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov) or with the FMCSA's Division Administrator for the State where the driver is employed (http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/field-offices).

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Q. What are the different types of ELD malfunctions?

A. Like any other device, it is expected that electronic logging devices (ELDs) will likely malfunction on occasion. There are a number of reasons why. Following is an overview of the more common reasons an ELD may malfunction:

If the driver notices a malfunction, he or she must provide written notice of the malfunction to the carrier within 24 hours. They also must reconstruct the record of duty status (RODS) for the current 24-hour period and the previous 7 consecutive days, and record the data on graph-grid paper logs. The driver must continue to prepare RODS until the ELD is back in compliance.

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Q. What is an ELD?

A. ELD = Electronic Logging Device

An electronic logging device (ELD) is a device that attaches to a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) to synchronize with the engine and record Hours of Service (HOS).

As defined by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is a selfpropelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway for interstate commerce, transporting passengers or property, and meeting certain criteria for weight and design or use.

The ELD facilitates considerably more accurate recording of all driver activity by providing “snapshots” of the vehicle's location throughout the driver's day. ELDs automatically record driving time and monitor information such as location, engine hours, vehicle movement, and miles driven.

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Q. Who does the new ELD rule impact?

A. Essentially all CMV carriers that operate across state lines will be impacted. Any driver who maintains 8 or more days worth of duty status logs, out of 30 days, will require an ELD.

Learn more about ELD exemptions.

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Q. What is the timeframe for compliance?

A. Motor carriers using paper logs are required to have ELDs installed and in use by December 2017. Fleets using AOBRD devices must be using certified, registered ELDs by December 2019.

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