Ping! 3 Things You Need to Know About ELDs and Fuel Taxes
Photo: ERoad
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Photo: ERoad
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A popular selling point for electronic logging devices is that you can use the electronic records for fuel tax reporting through the International Fuel Tax Agreement (usually just called IFTA) and International Registration Plan (IRP) reporting.
Although this use was not what the ELD mandate was intended for, it can be a helpful tool — but make sure your ELD vendor fully understands IFTA/IRP requirements and the limitations of using GPS data on distance-based tax returns. The record-keeping requirements for hours of service and for IFTA/IRP are vastly different.
Here’s what you should know (that your ELD sales rep may not):
1. Auditors want raw data
By itself, an ELD can’t calculate distance. Its GPS can only record where a device is based on latitude, longitude, date, and time (some systems also gather an odometer reading). You need software to make the distance calculation.
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This hardware-software combo is reliable but not perfect. Devices can malfunction. There are places like cities and canyons where signals degrade. And when it comes to software, there is no standard algorithm to turn GPS data into points on a map. One program might put your truck on a side road while another shows it on the highway.
This is why auditors don’t accept distance summaries generated by routing or fleet management software as proof of distance traveled. They want raw GPS “pings” so they can verify for themselves whether your distance reports are correct. Fleets should ask their ELD providers how they will go about providing the raw data you’ll need for an audit.
2. You’ll need five-plus years of pings
In an audit, how easy is it to get access to all that data?
IFTA requires licensees to preserve all records used to create quarterly tax returns and/or annual tax returns …Read the rest of this story
