§395.8(a) requires every driver of a CMV subject to Part 395 to record their duty status for every 24-hour period. ELD is the default since the December 2017 mandate; paper logs are limited to specific exemptions (driveaway-towaway, pre-2000 engine model year, 8-days-in-30 short-haul). "No record" — neither ELD output nor paper — is the §395.8(a) violation.
Severity weight + audit risk
Severity weight 5 in the HOS Compliance BASIC. Beyond the SMS impact, §385.337(b)(1) lists failure to require HOS records as a discoverable audit issue. New-entrant audits frequently fail on this single item.
How to prevent it
- Every driver subject to Part 395 is enrolled in an ELD account. The driver's name, the device's registration, and the carrier of record link cleanly.
- Short-haul drivers operating under §395.1(e)(1) maintain time records (start, end, total hours) — these are §395.1(e)(1) time records, not §395.8 RODs, but they satisfy the recordkeeping question at audit.
- Detached operators (owner-ops leased on) — verify their ELD is your account, not their personal one, or §395.8(a) failures roll up to your USDOT.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
Roadworthy HQ tracks each driver's record-of-duty-status source (ELD, paper, short-haul time record). At audit, the binder exports a 7-day window per driver from the source on file, with §395.11 supporting documents alongside.