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Hours of Service Audit

An hours of service audit that draws each flagged driver-day as the duty-status graph, pins the fuel, toll, trip, message and GPS records on the same clock, and leaves the ruling to the auditor, the safety director and the driver.

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The problem

Personal conveyance toward the next load passes the ELD violation report

The ELD records when the truck moves; the duty status is still the driver's to choose. A drive coded personal conveyance that ended at tomorrow's pickup, a fuel stop logged off duty, an edit that moved on-duty time to off duty: the violation report reads each one as clean, because it trusts the coding.

The stretch shows only when the log sits next to the fuel receipt, the toll statement, the bill of lading times, the dispatch messages and the GPS. That is how an FMCSA investigator or a plaintiff's log expert lays it out after a crash. A safety team sampling by hand cannot read every segment that way, the driver is asked by phone, and the dispatch message behind the drive turns up in a deposition.

Built forSafety directorsHours-of-service auditorsDriver managersFleet systems administrators

The Problem Today

The ELD report trusts the driver's coding, so a working stretch logged off duty passes until someone sets the receipts and GPS beside it.

~32%
of 2025 Roadcheck driver out-of-service violations were hours published
10%
of those out-of-service violations were false logs, same check published

Kept in other systems today

  • Fuel card
  • Tolls
  • BOLs
  • Messages
  • Coding trusted as loggedA drive toward the next load can report no violation
  • Drivers asked by phoneThe answer lives in a text message, if anywhere

The Solution

  1. The log and its records on one clockFuel, tolls, bills of lading, messages and GPS pinned on the duty graph
  2. A challenger plays the investigatorIt picks the documents an investigator would and tests the agents' own arithmetic
  3. The driver answers in the appStructured choices come back; the driver's own words reach a person unscored
  4. Two people rule, the driver editsThe auditor rules, the safety director co-signs, only the driver accepts an edit

Built-in controls

  • Only the driver accepts or rejects an edit to the log
  • Agents describe a disagreement and label no driver
  • Questions about dispatch pressure go to the safety director

What You Get

The fleet settles each disputed stretch with the driver before an investigator or a plaintiff's expert reads the log.

  • The agents' own counts challengedFueling counted as on duty before anyone relies on a finding
  • Repeat stretches reach coachingDriver managers see patterns; dispatchers see outcomes only
  • An evidence file for each dayWho ruled, who co-signed and the meaning of each signature
Features

Hours of service audit features, from the nightly sweep to the driver's edit

Hours-of-service auditors, safety directors and drivers use them to settle one flagged stretch on the records. The screens follow a personal conveyance drive that ended at the next pickup.

demoSample data throughout: the fleet, its drivers and dispatchers, the shipper's lot and each figure shown.

  1. 01Log and trail

    ELD duty-status graph with fuel, toll, trip, message and GPS records pinned

    • Supporting documents pinned on the log's own clock. Pins that agree show in one color and pins that disagree in another, so the auditor sees the problem stretch before reading a word.
    • Close-up of the disputed stretch with GPS miles. Each mark is numbered and the disagreement is written beside it, with both sources cited, so the case explains itself to a second reader.
    • Agents' read shown step by step, with hand-offs. The auditor follows each agent's sources, confidence and hand-off, and can steer the read while it runs.
  2. 02Fuel receipt

    Fuel receipt inside an off-duty stretch, read as on-duty time

    • Receipt time, place and odometer from the card file. A fill that falls inside a stretch logged off duty is caught from the fuel-card feed, without waiting for a paper receipt.
    • Highlights show exactly what the agent read. The auditor checks the agent against the document in seconds, and opening a source is written to the audit trail.
  3. 03Investigator's read

    Challenger plays the FMCSA investigator and the plaintiff's log expert

    • Supporting documents picked the way the rule allows. The safety team sees which documents an investigator would choose for that day, by category, before an investigator chooses them.
    • Stretch tested against FMCSA personal conveyance guidance. Each test in the guidance is marked met, not met or does not apply, so the finding rests on the guidance's own words.
    • The agents' own draft caught and corrected. A fuel stop counted as driving, or a 14-hour window opened at engine power-up, is fixed before the finding is overstated.
  4. 04What-if

    11-hour and 14-hour limits recounted for any recoding, section cited

    • Stretch recoded piece by piece. The auditor tries driving, on duty or off duty for each piece and sees every limit counted again, with no log changed.
    • Break, 10-hour, 70-hour and window rules side by side. Each limit shows as logged and as recoded with its section, so one violation is not mistaken for several.
    • Driver pay and the three outcomes played forward. The paid miles at stake and what follows each ruling are on screen before anyone decides.
  5. 05Driver app

    Driver asked in the driver app with structured reasons, not by phone

    • Reasons taken from the personal conveyance guidance. The driver's answer lands in the case as a choice the auditor can weigh, instead of a phone call nobody wrote down.
    • Who asked for the drive, as a direct question. A dispatch instruction is on the record in the driver's own answer, which the safety director needs before any review of dispatch.
    • Driver's own words reach a person, unscored. Whatever the driver writes reaches the auditor exactly as typed and holds the ruling until the auditor has read it.
  6. 06Ruling

    Personal conveyance ruling coded from the guidance, in the auditor's own words

    • Reason codes taken from the guidance's own examples. A ruling of not personal conveyance names the reason, toward the next pickup or a business purpose, so the next auditor reads it the same way.
    • Signature meaning stated before signing. The auditor sees what the signature attests to, and that the ruling goes for co-signature before any edit reaches the driver.
    • More documents first, with no ruling. When the records are not enough, the auditor asks for more, the request is logged and the day stays open.
  7. 07Co-signature

    Safety director co-signs after opening the evidence; dispatch questions apart

    • Second signature gated on the evidence. The director must open the GPS, the receipt and the messages first, so the second signature means a reading; nobody co-signs a ruling they made.
    • Dispatch messages raised as restricted questions. Whether a message pressed a driver to drive is the safety director's call, kept out of the driver file and the dispatcher's view.
    • Rules and settings signed by a second person. A rule drawn from past rulings, or a change to what the sweep flags, applies only after the director approves it.
  8. 08Proposed edit

    Proposed ELD edit sent to the driver, who alone accepts or rejects it

    • Edit drawn on the driver's own graph. The driver sees what changes, why, and what it means for the day's hours and paid miles before recertifying.
    • Recorded driving never edited. The edit clears a category and codes non-driving time only, as the ELD rules allow, and a rejection stays with the record.
  9. 09Closed day

    Log closed with the driver's accepted edit and the corrected driving time

    • The day closes only on the driver's answer. The log, the finding and the evidence file agree, with each signature and the driver's acceptance on the record.
    • Coaching and the dispatch review routed apart. The driver manager gets the pattern and the safety director the dispatch question, each in their own queue.

Who runs HOS audit and hours of service compliance in the safety office

The auditor works the days, the director countersigns, driver managers coach and systems staff keep every mile assigned.

Hours-of-service auditors

Work the queue of flagged days, steer the agents and rule on each stretch

  • Each flagged day drawn with its records pinned
  • Limits recounted for any recoding, section cited
  • Past rulings shown at the next similar one
Safety directors

Co-sign rulings, decide dispatch questions, approve rules and settings

  • The GPS, receipt and messages opened before signing
  • Dispatch questions kept apart from the driver file
  • An evidence file per day for an investigator
Driver managers

Plan and record coaching on repeat patterns

  • Patterns counted only after a ruling
  • Coaching planned with a date, recorded with an outcome
  • Dispatchers shown outcomes, never findings
Fleet systems administrators

Assign or explain unassigned driving and keep the feeds running

  • Each unassigned segment with its likely driver
  • Assignments that wait for the driver to accept
  • Last night's feeds listed by source
More screens

The nightly sweep, unassigned driving, edits, coaching and learned rules

The month around that day: the sweep, the edits, unassigned driving, learned rules and coaching.

The nightly sweep14,400 driver-days read for 480 drivers against 6 document sources; of 1,318 personal conveyance segments, 41 flagged, 35 ruled and 6 waiting for a person.
Proposed editsEdits proposed to drivers with their answers, one rejected with the driver's words kept, and driver edits the sweep flagged because a document disagrees.
Unassigned driving96 segments in the last 30 days and 8 open, each with the tractor, the place and who likely drove; the systems administrator assigns or explains each one.
Rules learned from rulingsA rule in use, one waiting for the safety director and one declined with its reason, beside the auditor's rulings the agents remember.
Coaching on repeat patternsPatterns by driver, counted from ruled days only: personal conveyance toward the next pickup three times in 30 days, a missed break twice.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

What the agents leave to the auditor, the safety director and the driver

Whether a stretch is personal conveyanceAgents write that the log and the documents disagree. The ruling is the auditor's, and the safety director countersigns after opening the evidence.
Any change to the logA proposed edit reaches the driver's app only after the co-signature, and only the driver accepts or rejects it and recertifies.
A label on a driverNo agent calls a log false or a driver dishonest. A false-entry question is the auditor's to rule and the safety director's to follow.
Whether dispatch pressed a driverA message that may have pushed a driver to drive goes to the safety director as a restricted question, hidden from the dispatcher.
What the driver's words meanThe driver's own words and any outside note go to a person, unread by the agents, and hold the ruling until read.

Eight records an FMCSA investigator would set beside the driver's log

ELD recordsDuty statuses, odometer, engine events, edit history, annotations, certification and unassigned driving.
Fuel-card transactionsTime, place, gallons and odometer of each fill, from the nightly file.
Toll statementsTransponder entry and exit times that place the truck on the road.
Bills of lading and trip recordsReceiver stamps, pickup times and moved appointments from the transportation management system.
In-cab messagesDispatch messages from fleet messaging, counted as one supporting document per day.
GPS breadcrumbsTelematics positions showing where a stretch began, stopped and ended.
Driver settlementsPaid miles by day from payroll, which show what the fleet paid for.
Shippers' gate logsRequested field by field when a stretch ends at a shipper's lot.

What safety directors ask about an hours of service audit

What is an hours of service audit?

An hours of service audit checks each driver's ELD record against supporting documents: fuel receipts, tolls, bills of lading, messages and GPS. Agents read every log against those records each night, a challenger plays the investigator, the auditor rules, the safety director co-signs and only the driver accepts an edit.

How does it find personal conveyance misuse?

It tests each personal conveyance stretch against FMCSA's guidance: where it started and ended, which safe places to rest it passed, and whether it moved the truck closer to the next loading point. The agents write only whether the documents agree; the auditor rules.

Which supporting documents for hours of service does it use?

The categories the rule names: bills of lading and trip records, dispatch records, expense receipts for on-duty time such as fuel, electronic mobile messages, and payroll or settlement records, plus tolls and GPS. The challenger picks the ones an investigator would pick for that day.

Can it change a driver's log?

No. It proposes an edit after the auditor rules and the safety director co-signs; the driver accepts or rejects it in the app and recertifies. Driving the ELD recorded automatically is never edited.

What happens to a dispatch message that may have pushed a driver?

It goes to the safety director as a separate, restricted question. It stays out of the driver's file and out of the dispatcher's view; the dispatcher sees coaching outcomes only.

Does it replace the ELD's violation report?

No. It starts where that report stops: the stretches that read as clean because of how they were coded, and the edits a document contradicts.

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Bring a month
of flagged logs.

Bring one month of ELD records with their fuel, toll and trip files, and we will lay each personal conveyance stretch against them.

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