How Long Does a Trucking Company Keep ELD Records

The honest answer is that a motor carrier keeps electronic logging device records for a period fixed by federal regulation, that the period is short, and that it runs from the date of the record rather than from the date anyone was injured. That combination is why the question matters. By the time an injured person has finished the first course of treatment, dealt with an insurer, and decided to consult a lawyer, the record that would show what the tractor was doing in the minutes before impact may already have passed out of the carrier’s retention obligation.

This page explains what 49 C.F.R. § 395.22 requires of a carrier, what else the carrier has to hold alongside the device data, and what changes once a duty to preserve has attached. It does not state the retention figure. That number is in the current text of the regulation, it should be read there with counsel, and the safe working assumption in the meantime is the shortest period anyone credibly suggests. Call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

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What the Regulation Puts on the Carrier

Section 395.22 is directed at the motor carrier rather than the driver, and it assigns a set of obligations that together determine whether usable data still exists after a crash. The carrier must ensure that the devices it uses are certified and registered as compliant. It must ensure that its drivers have the means to produce and transfer records to a safety official on demand, and that the required instruction and malfunction materials are carried in the vehicle. It must manage driver accounts so that records are attributed to the person actually driving.

Two of its duties bear directly on litigation. The carrier must retain the records for the prescribed period, and it must keep a back-up copy on a device separate from the one holding the primary data. The back-up requirement exists because a single point of failure was the obvious weakness of the paper system that preceded it. In practice it also means that a carrier which tells a claimant the data is unavailable has a second location to account for, and the explanation for the absence of both copies is itself a question worth asking.

Why the Retention Period Is Shorter Than the Case

The retention period was set for enforcement, not for civil litigation. Its purpose is to let a safety official audit compliance during an investigation or a compliance review, and that work happens on a much shorter cycle than a personal injury claim. A claimant who is still treating, still waiting for a permanency opinion, or still negotiating with an adjuster is operating on a timescale the regulation never contemplated.

Ordinary business events shorten the practical window further. Carriers change telematics providers, and data held by a former vendor is frequently not migrated. Tractors are sold or returned to a lessor with the device installed. Drivers leave and their accounts are closed. None of this requires bad faith. A carrier can comply with every regulation it is subject to and still be unable to produce the record a year later, which is precisely why the timing of a preservation demand matters more than its wording.

Supporting Documents Are a Separate Obligation

Device data is not the whole record. The federal rules also require a carrier to obtain and retain supporting documents that allow the hours record to be verified, and those documents are often more revealing than the log itself. They include bills of lading, itineraries, schedules, and equivalent documents showing the origin and destination of a trip, dispatch and trip records, expense receipts related to on-duty time, fleet management system communications, and payroll or settlement records showing payment to the driver.

Their value is corroborative. A fuel receipt or a toll transaction places the vehicle somewhere at a time, independently of what the device shows and independently of what the driver certified. Where the two disagree, the disagreement is evidence. These documents also have their own retention obligation and their own practical fragility, so a preservation demand that asks only for the electronic log leaves the corroboration behind.

Unassigned Driving Time and Account Hygiene

An electronic logging device records motion whether or not a driver is logged in. Time recorded while no driver account is associated with the vehicle is treated as unassigned driving, and the rules require the carrier to review it and either assign it to the correct driver or annotate an explanation. That review record is valuable in two ways. It shows whether the carrier was managing its data at all, and it can reveal driving that never appeared in any driver’s hours record.

Unassigned segments around the time of a crash deserve particular attention. They can indicate movement of the vehicle that nobody has accounted for, a driver operating without logging in, or an equipment or process failure. In each case the explanation matters, and the explanation exists only if the underlying data and the carrier’s review of it were preserved. A request framed only around the named driver’s log will not reach it.

When the Regulatory Clock Stops Being the Question

The retention period governs what a carrier must keep in the ordinary course. It does not license the destruction of material once a duty to preserve has attached. That duty arises independently, when litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated, and it can attach well before a claim is filed, particularly after a serious crash involving a fatality or an obvious injury. Once it attaches, the carrier is expected to suspend routine deletion for the affected material.

The practical consequence for a claimant is that the objective is to make the duty unmistakable and to date it. A written preservation demand, specific about categories, delivered in a way that proves receipt, and sent to the carrier, its insurer, and any vendor holding the data, is what converts a routine purge into a decision the carrier has to explain. Whether relief follows a failure depends on the applicable rules and on facts including whether the material can be replaced from another source, so the demand should be paired with the collection of independent records rather than treated as a substitute for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are ELD records actually kept?

For a period fixed by federal regulation that runs from the date of the record, not from the date of a crash or a claim. This page does not state the figure because it belongs to the current text of the regulation and should be read there with counsel. What matters practically is that the period is short relative to the life of a personal injury claim, and that ordinary business events such as a change of telematics vendor can make the data unavailable even sooner.

Does the carrier have to keep a second copy?

Yes. The rules require a back-up copy on a device separate from the one holding the primary records, so that a single failure does not eliminate the data. When a carrier reports that records are unavailable, the back-up obligation is the natural follow-up question, because an explanation has to account for the loss of both copies rather than one. The answer often reveals how the carrier managed its data generally.

Can the trucking company delete records after a crash?

Not once a duty to preserve has attached, which can happen before any lawsuit is filed if litigation is reasonably anticipated. Routine deletion under a retention schedule is lawful in the ordinary course, but the schedule is not a defence to destroying material the carrier already knew it should keep. A written, dated, delivered preservation demand is what makes the point of attachment provable rather than arguable.

What are supporting documents and why do they matter?

They are the records the rules require a carrier to obtain and keep so that a driver’s hours can be verified: bills of lading and itineraries, dispatch and trip records, expense receipts connected to on-duty time, fleet management communications, and payroll or settlement records. They matter because they place the vehicle and the driver independently of the log. Where they contradict the electronic record, the contradiction is frequently the most useful evidence in the case.

What is unassigned driving time?

It is vehicle movement recorded while no driver account was logged in. The rules require the carrier to review it and either assign it to a driver or annotate an explanation. Unassigned segments near the time of a crash can indicate driving that never entered any hours record, a logging failure, or movement of the vehicle nobody has accounted for. The carrier’s review record should be requested alongside the driver’s own log.

What should I do in the first week after a truck crash?

Get a written preservation demand to the carrier, its insurer, and any telematics vendor, identifying the device records in their prescribed output format, the edit and annotation history, unassigned driving records, supporting documents, camera footage, and the vehicle itself. Preserve independent sources at the same time, including photographs, dashcam footage from other vehicles, and any roadside inspection record. Treatment and the claim can proceed afterwards; the data cannot be recovered later.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

The retention period is the reason a truck case has a first week rather than a first month. The firm works these matters from the custodians outward, demanding the device records, the back-up copy, the unassigned driving review, and the supporting documents together, because the corroboration is usually what decides the hours question.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle matters across those jurisdictions, which matters here because neighbouring states apply materially different rules to the same accident, and where a claim is brought can decide whether it proceeds at all. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about electronic logging device records in commercial truck cases and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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