§395.8(e) prohibits any person from preparing or causing to be prepared a false record of duty status. Common findings include falsified driving-time entries, unassigned-driving events ignored, and ELD edits that misrepresent on-duty status. ELD logs leave a forensic trail; "auto-edits" and "yard moves" used to mask driving time get found.
Severity weight + audit consequences
Severity weight 7 — high for the HOS Compliance BASIC. More damaging at audit: a pattern of false logs is §390.35 falsification territory, and false or missing records across 51% or more of examined logs triggers the §385.321(b) automatic failure for §395.8(a).
Driver consequences
A first conviction for §395.8(e) falsification is a §383.51(b)(2) "serious traffic violation" — 60-day CDL disqualification on second conviction within 3 years.
How to prevent it
- Review unassigned-driving events monthly. Reassign or document them.
- Audit ELD edit history quarterly. Unusual patterns (drivers who never go on-duty before driving, edits that bring duty cycles under §395.3 limits) are the tell.
- Don't dispatch loads that mathematically require an HOS violation.
- Train drivers that "yard move" and "personal conveyance" are narrowly defined and recorded — abuse is a §395.8(e) issue.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
Roadworthy HQ surfaces HOS violations against the driver record and audit binder. When the ELD records an §395.3 violation event, it's preserved as immutable history per decision §3 of the data architecture — corrections are reversing events, not edits, so the trail is auditable.