When you’re in a bad truck accident, you want to know what the driver was doing in the time leading up to your accident.

Often the police report will not be able to give you that answer. Electronic logging device (ELD) records can help answer that question, especially when a claim involves catastrophic truck accident injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 161,201 people were injured in U.S. crashes involving large trucks in 2024. These numbers include all injuries, not just catastrophic.

Here is what you should know:

• What information an ELD logs about a driver
• How to verify the driver’s log against other evidence
• What ELDs can and cannot tell you about an accident
• The importance of saving the raw data

Understanding the Information Logged

ELDs plug into the truck engine and help monitor how long a driver is able to drive. Commercial drivers who fall under ELD mandates no longer have to manually write their logs, mostly.

The ELD automatically logs details such as date, time, location, engine hours, vehicle miles and identifying information at certain events. The driver will also have his or her duty status listed, i.e. driving, on duty not driving, off duty, and sleeper berth.

This information can help you determine what the driver was doing, or at least claim to be doing, throughout the day.

Review Hours of Service

Federal hours-of-service rules limit driving time according to the type of operation and any applicable exceptions. Under the standard rules for most property-carrying drivers, driving is limited to 11 hours within a 14-hour driving window after 10 consecutive hours off duty. There are exceptions that can apply to this scenario.

The ELD will allow you to see if a driver stayed over his allowed hours of service. Maybe he was still driving past 11 hours, or changed his duty status right before he delivered a load. Were there any instances where the driver was not sitting in the driver’s seat, but was completing a job?

For crashes in Houston, the trial lawyers at Pierce Skrabanek handle claims that may require reviewing driver conduct, carrier records and other sources of evidence.

Perhaps the driver sat off duty at a distribution center for several hours. By reviewing other records, maybe the driver was working at that distribution center during those hours off duty. You would have to factor that into his hours of service.

You need to know what the driver was actually doing, then determine if the driver violated any rules.

Review Any Edits and Gaps

As mentioned above, an ELD will give you a nice graph of the driver’s day, but there is more to the information. The ELD can show edits, comments, and miles driven that were not associated with a driver.

Drivers and carriers are allowed to edit their records, but must maintain the original log. An explanation is also required if any edits are made. Authorized carrier staff can propose limited edits, but the driver must confirm or reject the proposed changes. The original record remains available. Miles that are automatically logged as driving cannot be changed to anything else, typically.

There are a few things you should look for:

• Miles driven without a driver: If the truck moved and no driver is signed in, you need to find out who was driving.
• Edits made to the log: See what the original entry was, what it was edited to, and why.
• Gaps: Were there any missing pieces of information or errors with the device?

Also, look at when the edit was made and by whom. Don’t just look at the driver’s current duty status, but review what was changed and by who. There could be legitimate reasons for an edit, so don’t assume the driver was being deceptive.

Verify Driver Logs With Additional Evidence

Take the time your accident occurred and list out the driver’s duty status changes on a timeline. Now, take that and compare it to other documents you can find that may have been logged outside of the ELD.

Receipts from fuel stations or toll booths can verify when the driver stopped along the way. If the driver went to a distribution center, maybe you can find when he arrived, unloaded, and left. Dispatch messages and camera footage can also help you verify this information.

This can lead you to more questions, or confirm that the driver is telling the truth.

Know the Limitations

An ELD can only provide you so much information. It is meant to log how long someone worked, it is not going to give you every detail of the accident. An ELD’s required records do not provide a continuous account of speed, braking, steering or how the collision unfolded. Separate vehicle or camera records may help with those questions.

The location will be logged, but again, only at certain points. It may not show you the entire path the driver took, or exactly where the accident happened.

You may have to look at other records, such as the ECM, to see what was happening during the accident. Along with camera footage, pictures, and witness statements, these can help paint a better picture of the accident.

Just because a driver exceeded his hours of service doesn’t mean that he or she caused the accident. And if the driver didn’t violate any rules, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t distracted, speeding, or driving with a defective part.

Save All ELD Records

Carriers are required to keep drivers’ ELD duty status records and any supporting documentation for six months. They must also keep a copy of the driver’s ELD record for the same amount of time.

Don’t think that’s enough time to retrieve all electronic records that may pertain to your case. You may need camera footage, dispatch, or other records as well.

When you send a letter of preservation, you want to include all these items that you may need. Including the drivers original ELD record, any edits, miles driven without a driver, supporting documentation, etc. You want to save all raw data, not just screenshots of the driver’s daily log.

An injured person usually cannot access a carrier’s internal ELD system directly. Depending on the case, an attorney may seek records through a preservation request, an investigation or formal discovery.

It’s important to gather these records as soon as possible to have a better understanding of what the driver was doing before your accident.

How ELD Records Play Into Your Injury Claim

Of course, you want to know what the driver was doing, but you also need to determine who is at fault for your accident and what injuries you sustained.

This could be the driver, motor carrier, or another party. ELD records can help you figure out what the driver was doing, and what may have led up to your accident. Medical bills and records will help you determine what injuries you sustained. If the driver was rushing to make deliveries, you may need to look into who dispatched him, and what the company’s policies may have been.

If you have suffered a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, your injuries can impact your life for years to come. You may have to continue with medical treatment, lose wages, and more. Make sure your attorney knows what you have been affected by, and that it can be linked back to the accident.

Use ELDs to learn what the driver was doing, and use your medical and financial records to prove your damages.

Bottom Line

Electronic logging devices can be helpful in determining what a truck driver was doing, but you should always look at the raw data. Once you have saved these records, you can better understand what is possible in your truck accident case, and what you may not be able to prove.