The ELD mandate, issued by the FMCSA, is a federal regulation requiring commercial motor vehicle operators to use ELDs to record their HOS. Enacted in December 2015, the rule was implemented in phases:

• Phase 1 (Awareness): Carriers were encouraged to transition voluntarily to ELDs.
• Phase 2 (AOBRD grandfathering): Drivers using Automatic On-Board Recording Devices (AOBRDs) were allowed to continue until December 16, 2019.
• Phase 3 (Full compliance): All applicable carriers and drivers were required to use ELDs by December 17, 2019.

The mandate aims to increase road safety, reduce fatigue-related accidents, and improve compliance with federal HOS rules.