GREENBELT, Md. – U.S. regulators will require Automatic On-Board Recording Devices (AOBRDs) to be replaced by electronic logging devices (ELDs) as of Dec. 17 – and there will be no grace period to adopt the technology.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) confirmed in a press release today that there will be no “soft enforcement” grace period, as there was with the initial ELD rollout.

The rule is outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) electronic logging devices final rule .

If a truck traveling in the U.S. is not equipped with a registered and compliant ELD, the driver will be considered to have no record of duty status. Truck drivers without such a status would be placed out of service for 10 hours, as per North American out-of-service criteria.

The out-of-service criteria pertaining to record of duty status and hours of service rules were published on April 1.

The CVSA has published an Inspection Bulletin regarding hand-held and electronic logging devices, outlining the requirements for devices used to record drivers’ hours of service, according to 49 CFR Part 395 Subpart B – Electronic Logging Devices.

In Canada, federally regulated carriers will be required to be equipped with ELDs as of June 2021. Existing AOBRDs will not be grandfathered under that rule.

Details of a third-party certification program for the Canadian devices have not yet been published, either.