Any accident involving a large commercial truck can be catastrophic, where people suffer life-altering injuries or perish in the truck crash. The danger for 18-wheeler accidents is particularly high here in Illinois and Indiana, where we have significantly more tractor-trailer traffic than in other parts of the country. Read, Semi Trucks and Big Rigs: High Indiana and Illinois Commercial Truck Traffic Creates Dangerous Conditions and Highway Big Rig Truck Traffic: Its Dangerous and Its On the Increase.
Understandably, after-crash truck accident investigations by police as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”); insurance adjusters; trucking company representatives; and experts for the injured victims are complicated. And as truck technology advances, determining all the factual reasons for what happened pose unique challenges, like analyzing data found on electronic logging devices (“ELDs”) that may be on one or more of the vehicles involved in the collision. See, Truck Crash Injury Claim Evidence: ELDs, EDRs, and FMCSA Regulations to Show Liability.
Tracking Truckers’ Time Behind the Wheel: ELDs
ELDs have long been federally mandated to be placed on commercial trucks hauling cargo on our local roadways. These devices are intended to keep both the trucker and those sharing the roadways with the truck safe from accidents caused by drowsy driving or fatigued truck drivers. FMCSA explains that ELDs help truckers “…get the breaks they need, increasing the safety for everyone on the road…” through industry-wide compliance with federal hours-of-service regulations. See, “Electronic Logging Devices Improving Safety Through Technology,” published by FMCSA in its Quarter 4, 2023 Report.
Electronic logging devices (ELDs) are intended to create a safer work environment for drivers of commercial motor vehicles, and make it easier and faster to accurately track, manage, and share data on driving and off-duty time.
For more on ELDs, read Semi-Truck Crash: Evidence To Prove Injury Claims Using The Rig’s Electronic Logging Device (ELD).
FMCSA Focusing on ELD Compliance in 2026
This year, FMCSA as part of its task of overseeing compliance with trucking industry safety regulations, has been focusing on several specific areas of concern in truck crashes, particularly failures to comply with existing ELD regulations. For instance, effective on July 22, 2026, there will no longer be a federal requirement to have a printed-on-paper ELD operator’s manual in the rig. This is because the ELDs usually have digital versions of the operating manuals uploaded already.
FMCSA has also begun revoking lots and lots of ELDs as being non-compliant with the minimum requirements established in Title 49 CFR Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 395. Lots of these devices are being revoked.
See, for instance, FMCSA Removes 12 Devices from List of Registered Electronic Logging Devices, news release dated May 20, 2026; and FMCSA Removes 10 Devices from List of Registered Electronic Logging Devices, news release dated July 9, 2026.
FMCSA Revoked ELDs List
At its website, FMCSA provides a list of all ELDs that are “self-certified” by the manufacturer as meeting regulatory requirements, giving not only device name and model number but its software version and identifier number. These ELDs are respected by FMCSA as being in compliance with current safety regulations.
Importantly, FMCSA also publishes an online database of “devices found by FMCSA to not meet the Electronic Logging Device technical specifications.” These ELDs are listed as “revoked.” They are not approved by FMCSA. Their data system is not considered in compliance with regulatory safety standards.
This is very important to know for truck crash victims and those investigating their accident claims and acting as their legal advocates. Evidence gathering may be more challenging in injury matters where the big rig or tractor-trailer truck had ELD on board which has been “revoked” by FMCSA. That revoked ELD digital information may not have the same evidentiary value as that found on a compliant ELD in the event of a crash. And, the existence of a revoked ELD alone may show a failure of one or more defendants to meet legal duties of safety and care in the truck crash.
60 Days to Replace the Revoked ELD with Compliant Device
FMCSA is checking on the “technical integrity of the ELD program,” and has already revoked close to 100 different gizmos since January 2025.
From FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Barrs:
“Safety is not optional, and neither is compliance. FMCSA is serious about removing unsafe and unreliable electronic logging devices from the market and holding manufacturers accountable to federal safety standards. These standards are in place to help protect everyone traveling on American roads.”
What is happening? If FMCSA decides that a vendor’s electronic logging device system does not meet current federal standards, the FMCSA revokes that ELD. Afterwards, the motor carrier has around two months (60 days) to replace that revoked ELD with one that is compliant (as shown on the compliant ELD list).
During that replacement time, the trucker is allowed to go back to the Old School time tracking method of paper logs, or using some kind of approved software for logging until the replacement ELD is up and working. If the company misses that deadline, there can be a federal citation for “no record of duty status” as well as an “out-of-service” violation.
ELD Evidence in Personal Injury or Wrongful Death Claims After Truck Crash
After a semi-truck crash in Illinois or Indiana, state laws defining wrongful death claims and survivor actions may apply as well as personal injury damages available under negligence law, product liability law, and the like. These provide avenues for justice to the crash victims and their loved ones. Truckers, rig occupants, as well as pedestrians and the passengers and drivers of other motor vehicles involved in the truck accident, may have legal claims for relief independent of any workers’ compensation benefits.
These truck crash victims, working with their legal advocates and experts in truck accident reconstruction, will have the legal responsibility of gathering enough admissible and authenticated evidence to meet their burden of proving the legal liability of all those companies and individuals who are at fault.
The ELDs can be vital here. The ELDs can do things like reveal if the trucker was outside of the driving time limits set up in the federal “hours-of-service” regulations. The ELD can also be checked to see if someone edited the data or did something to cause a device malfunction in order to try and escape liability for the accident.
FMCSA has deemed fraud to be a significant problem insofar as ELDs being used today in our trucking industry. If a truck crash victim discovers that the truck involved in the accident had a revoked ELD or an ELD that was not on the FMCSA certified list, then that may be a new and independent piece of evidence in their case. This failure to meet FMCSA standards for ELDs (as established in Title 49 CFR Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 395) might be argued as pointing to negligence by the carrier, owner, or lessor of that rig which contributed to the harm caused in that truck crash.
Electronic logging devices are important for the safety of the truck driver and all those around the rig while it is in operation, because they help protect that trucker from being too tired or sleepy to operate that heavy and powerful vehicle on the roads of Illinois and Indiana. FMCSA is reacting to fraud and failures to comply with existing ELD regulations by increased enforcement of gizmo compliance and revocation of those that fail to meet the safety standards. This also has implications for truck crash injury claims.
Also read:
- Semi-Truck Crashes and Trucker Fatigue: FMCSA Regulations To Protect Against Drowsy Driving Truck Accidents
- Federal FMCSA Regulations of Commercial Trucking: Impact on Truck Accident Claims
- Sleepy, Tired, Fatigued, Exhausted Drivers: Brain Function and Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Exhausted Truck Drivers: Who Can Discover ELD and HOS Fraud to Enforce Federal Safety Laws?
Truck crashes are all too often preventable accidents where people suffer debilitating injuries or death as a result. Fatigued driving of a semi-truck can result in tragedy and ELDs are designed to help prevent that danger. Please be careful out there!
