ELD Tampering — §395.8(e)
Carriers cited for tampering with an Electronic Logging Device so that the device does not accurately record and retain required data (codes 8E-HOSPDELDT and 8E-HOSPVELDT).
Explore ELD tampering violations recorded in FMCSA inspection data across the United States. Identify cited carriers, analyze enforcement activity by state, review inspection outcomes, and understand how electronic logging device violations affect commercial motor carriers.
Period Apr 1, 2026 → Nov 6, 2026 · data refreshed Nov 9, 2026, 02:00 UTC
What Is ELD Tampering?
An electronic logging device (ELD) is the recorder that 49 CFR Part 395 requires most commercial drivers to use for their hours of service: it connects to the engine and captures date, time, location, engine hours, miles and duty status on its own. ELD tampering, in the words of § 395.8(e), is disabling, jamming, reprogramming or otherwise altering the device so that it no longer accurately records and retains that data. A log that can be edited at will is no longer evidence of compliance.
Inspectors see tampering in the data itself: driving that does not match engine activity, unassigned driving time, failed data transfers, edits that erase driving, or a device that cannot produce its records. The citation enters FMCSA's public inspection data, which this report aggregates by carrier and by state. Each cited carrier above links to its full profile.
Learn more about ELD rules →49 CFR § 395.8 (eCFR)FMCSA — Electronic Logging Devices
Why It Matters
The hours-of-service rules exist to keep fatigued drivers off the road; an altered log removes the one control that shows how long a driver has actually worked.
A tampering citation is a Part 395 violation that can bring civil penalties under 49 CFR Part 386 and, under the CVSA out-of-service criteria, put the driver out of service at the roadside.
Violations feed FMCSA's Safety Measurement System; a pattern in the HOS Compliance category raises a carrier's profile for warning letters, investigations and audits.
Inspection results are public data, so brokers, shippers and insurers see a tampering citation on a carrier's record long after the inspection itself.
ELD Tampering Enforcement Trends
ELD tampering trend
Inspections per month
- Apr 2026869
- May 2026866
- Jun 20261,281
- Jul 20261,254
- Aug 20261,310
- Sep 20261,172
- Oct 20261,171
- Nov 2026 (partial)132
From Apr 2026 to Nov 2026: 8,055 inspections with an ELD tampering citation, 7,782 of them out of service, across 16,111 violation rows. The last month is partial: data ends Nov 6, 2026.
Carriers by fleet size
Share of 5,610 cited carriers with a reported fleet size
- 1–10 power units — 3,346 of 5,610 (59.6%)
- 11–50 — 1,445 of 5,610 (25.8%)
- 51–100 — 472 of 5,610 (8.4%)
- 101–500 — 320 of 5,610 (5.7%)
- 501+ — 27 of 5,610 (0.5%)
Not in the share: 7 cited carriers without a reported fleet size
Out-of-service rate
OOS inspections of all inspections with a citation
- Last 30 days (state-filed inspections): 951 of 1,001 (95.0%)
- All time: 7,782 of 8,055 (96.6%)
Intel Feed
All postsELD tampering by state, 2026: three states write 56% of all citations
Arizona, Oregon and Alabama filed 4,019 of the 7,110 state-filed ELD tampering inspections since April 1, 2026 — 56.5% — and 96.9% of all cited inspections ended out of service. Eight states have not written one. The full 43-state table, the monthly series, the towns behind the numbers, and why the trucks cited in Arizona come from California and Illinois.
Who gets cited for ELD tampering: 5,024 carriers, one in five of them more than once
Six months of FMCSA ELD tampering citations fall on 5,024 carriers. 1,089 were cited at least twice, 121 five or more times, and the worst 23 times in nine states. The median cited carrier declares 7 trucks, but the citation rate per 10,000 active carriers climbs 57-fold from one-truck fleets to fleets of 101–500. Illinois and California carriers make up 41% of the list — and Illinois has not written a single citation.
False logs vs. ELD tampering: the same rule, 29% vs. 97% out of service
§395.8(e) covers two different things. Since April 2026, 30,526 inspections cited a false record of duty status under (e)(1) and 7,149 cited ELD tampering under (e)(2)–(3). The false-log inspections are four times more common and end out of service 29.0% of the time; the tampering inspections end out of service 96.9% of the time. Only 857 inspections carried both. What the twelve §395.8(e) codes are, which states write which, and what happened to the false-log count when the tampering codes arrived.
Understanding FMCSA ELD Tampering Violations
Not every Part 395 citation is tampering; this report counts only the tampering section. The neighbours:
- False record of duty status — § 395.8(e)(1)
- An untrue duty-status entry; the device may work perfectly. Not included in this report.
- ELD tampering — § 395.8(e)
- The device is disabled, blocked, reprogrammed or altered so it cannot record and retain the required data: the subject of this report (feed codes 8E-HOSPDELDT for property carriers, 8E-HOSPVELDT for passenger carriers).
- ELD malfunction — § 395.34
- A device that fails on its own; the driver notes it and reconstructs the record, the carrier repairs or replaces the unit. Not tampering.
- No ELD, or a device not on FMCSA's registered list — § 395.8(a)(1) and § 395.22
- Cited separately from tampering.
- Other recordkeeping violations
- Form-and-manner errors, missing supporting documents, failed roadside transfers and personal-conveyance misuse have their own codes and are not counted here.
A tampering citation does not by itself mean an out-of-service order, and a cited carrier is one that was inspected and cited, not a share of all registered carriers. Every percentage on this page names its numerator and denominator.
Codes in this report
| Code | Meaning | Violation rows | Inspections | OOS insp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8E-HOSPDELDT | 395.8(e) — ELD tampering (property) | 15,776 | 7,860 | 7,602 |
| 8E-HOSPVELDT | 395.8(e) — ELD tampering (passenger) | 335 | 215 | 197 |
Out-of-Service Outcomes
An out-of-service (OOS) order stops the driver or vehicle until the condition is fixed. Inspectors apply the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, so not every tampering citation ends in one. This report counts OOS per inspection: an inspection is out of service when any of its tampering rows carries the OOS flag, and the rate divides OOS inspections by all inspections with a tampering citation.
7,782 of 8,055 inspections (96.6%) with an ELD tampering citation in this dataset were out of service.
CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria
Data Source and Methodology
Source: FMCSA inspection and violation data on data.transportation.gov, imported nightly and kept as a cumulative history, selected by the tampering violation codes of § 395.8(e). Dates are inspection dates: inspections reach the public feed days or weeks later, so the latest days are always incomplete, the 30-day window is anchored on the latest inspection date rather than on today, and the refresh timestamp is our last import. A violation row is one cited item, an inspection may hold several rows, a carrier is one DOT number. State figures use the state that filed the report, not the carrier's home state, and exclude federal inspections, which stay in the national totals.
Coverage: inspections from Apr 1, 2026 to Nov 6, 2026; last import Nov 9, 2026, 02:00 UTC.
- FMCSA inspection violations dataset (data.transportation.gov, 876r-jsdb)
- 49 CFR Part 395 — Hours of Service of Drivers (eCFR)
- FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS)
- 49 CFR Part 386, Appendix B — civil penalty schedule (eCFR)
Frequently Asked Questions About ELD Tampering
What is considered ELD tampering under FMCSA rules?
49 CFR § 395.8(e) prohibits disabling, jamming, blocking or degrading an ELD's signals and reprogramming or otherwise altering the device so that it does not accurately record and retain hours-of-service data. It binds drivers and carriers alike; a carrier may not permit or require it.
How does FMCSA detect ELD tampering?
Mostly at roadside and in audits, through the data: driving that does not match engine activity, unassigned driving, failed data transfers, edits that remove driving time, or a device that cannot produce its records. The finding goes on the inspection report and into FMCSA's public inspection data.
What are the penalties for ELD tampering?
FMCSA may assess civil penalties under 49 CFR Part 386 (Appendix B holds the schedule, adjusted for inflation), and knowing falsification can carry criminal liability. The amount depends on the case, so this page quotes no figure; the eCFR link above has the current schedule.
Can ELD tampering result in an out-of-service order?
Yes. Under the CVSA out-of-service criteria a tampered or falsified log can place the driver out of service until it is corrected. Not every citation does; the share that did in this dataset is in the Out-of-Service Outcomes section, with its numerator and denominator.
Can ELD violations trigger a safety investigation?
They can contribute to one. Violations feed FMCSA's Safety Measurement System, and a carrier above the HOS Compliance intervention threshold can receive a warning letter, an investigation and, in serious cases, an unsatisfactory rating.
What is the difference between false logs and ELD tampering?
A false log (§ 395.8(e)(1)) is an untrue record of duty status on a working device; ELD tampering is interference with the device itself so it cannot record or retain data. This report counts only the tampering codes.
Where can I find FMCSA ELD inspection records?
FMCSA publishes inspection and violation data on data.transportation.gov and carrier safety data in the Safety Measurement System. This page aggregates the tampering citations from that data, and each carrier links to its full Carrierintel profile with the complete inspection history.
Which states report the most ELD tampering violations?
In the 30 days ending Nov 6, 2026, the states that filed the most ELD tampering violation rows were AZ (339 violation rows), AL (293 violation rows), OR (245 violation rows). The ranking is by the state that filed the inspection report, not by the carrier's home state, and it changes with each nightly import.