Free tool
ELD exemption checker
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“Do I need an ELD?” has a precise federal answer that the internet mostly buries under telematics ads. Answer seven questions about your operation and get a citation-backed verdict — ELD required, paper logs allowed, short-haul time records, or outside the mandate — plus the part every exemption article skips: what you still have to keep either way.
Do you cross state lines (or haul interstate freight)?
Purely intrastate operations fall under your state's own adopted rules.
Is the vehicle a CMV — over 10,000 lbs GVWR/GCWR, placarded hazmat, or passenger config?
The combination counts: truck + trailer rated over 10,000 lbs total is a CMV.
Does the vehicle require a CDL?
26,001+ lbs, placarded hazmat, or 16+ passengers.
Short-haul: do you stay within 150 air-miles of base, return there, and get released within the hour limits?
150 air-miles ≈ 172.6 road miles. CDL drivers: released within 14 consecutive hours, 10 hours off between shifts. Non-CDL drivers have the 14th/16th-hour weekly pattern.
Is this a driveaway-towaway operation?
The vehicle you're driving is itself the shipment — or you're delivering a motor home / RV trailer.
Was the vehicle manufactured before model year 2000?
Per the VIN on the registration.
Agricultural hauling within 150 air-miles during planting/harvest season?
Ag commodities or farm supplies, within the state-determined planting and harvesting periods.
Days you operate outside short-haul limits. 8 or fewer allows paper logs.
An ELD is required
- 49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)(i) — A driver who must keep records of duty status, with none of the § 395.1(e) or § 395.8(a)(1)(ii)(A) exceptions applying, must record duty status on an ELD.
Still required: Use a device from FMCSA's registered ELD list — and check it against the revoked list before buying: revocations now happen nearly every month, and a revoked device counts as no ELD after its replacement deadline.
The layering most articles get wrong
The ELD rule doesn't have one exemption list — it has layers. First: does Part 395 reach you at all (CMV, interstate — with agriculture's seasonal carve-out)? Second: do you need records of duty status, or does the short-haul exception replace them with time records? Only then does the actual ELD question arrive, with its four paper-log alternatives. This checker walks the layers in the regulation's own order, so the verdict cites the rule that actually decides your case.
Frequently asked questions
Who is exempt from the ELD mandate?
Four groups may keep paper logs instead of an ELD under 49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)(ii)(A): drivers who need a record of duty status on 8 or fewer days in any 30-day period; driveaway-towaway operations where the driven vehicle is the shipment; driveaway-towaway of motor homes or RV trailers; and vehicles manufactured before model year 2000 (per the VIN). Separately, short-haul drivers under 49 CFR 395.1(e) don't keep RODS at all — time records replace them — so the ELD never applies to those days.
What is the 150 air-mile short-haul exemption?
A driver who operates within a 150 air-mile radius (about 172.6 road miles) of the normal work-reporting location, returns there, and — for CDL drivers — is released within 14 consecutive hours with 10 hours off between shifts, is exempt from records of duty status entirely (49 CFR 395.1(e)(1)). The carrier keeps time records instead, retained 6 months. Non-CDL drivers have their own version with a 14th/16th-hour weekly pattern (395.1(e)(2)).
What happens on days I break the short-haul limits?
That day needs a full record of duty status. Do that on 8 or fewer days in a 30-day period and paper logs are fine; on the 9th day, an ELD is required. Many short-haul fleets run an ELD anyway just to stop counting.
Does a pre-2000 truck really never need an ELD?
The regulation keys on the vehicle's model year as shown in the VIN on the registration — before model year 2000 qualifies for paper logs. FMCSA guidance has extended the same treatment to pre-2000 engines in newer glider kits, but the registration VIN is what a roadside officer reads; carry documentation if your situation is engine-based.
Is exempt from the ELD the same as exempt from hours of service?
No — that confusion causes real violations. The ELD exemptions change how duty status is recorded, not the driving limits. Short-haul drivers still have hour limits and time-record duties; paper-log drivers still keep full logs on the standard grid. Only narrow carve-outs like the agricultural 150 air-mile exemption (49 CFR 395.1(k), during state planting/harvest periods) lift Part 395 itself.
What if my ELD gets revoked by FMCSA?
FMCSA removes non-compliant devices from the registered list nearly every month and sets a replacement deadline (typically 60 days). After the deadline, a revoked device counts as operating without an ELD. Check your device against the registered and revoked lists at eld.fmcsa.dot.gov before buying and periodically after.
Related
The rest of your compliance, resolved the same way
TruePermit applies the same deterministic, citation-carrying rules to your whole operation — which obligations apply, every deadline on one calendar with alerts, and your FMCSA record re-checked weekly. Free for one truck.
Start freeFederal rules as published in the eCFR (49 CFR 395.1, 395.8), August 2026. States may apply different rules to intrastate operation, and FMCSA guidance evolves — verify borderline cases against the current regulation and your state before relying on an exemption at roadside.