Keep that logbook current: The hours of service enforcement 'black hole' out West, where violations are most prioritized

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Updated Aug 5, 2021
2020 hours of service violations map west US
See the full infographic below for more detail on how focused the shaded states are compared to the national average for hours of service violations.

Considering hours of service enforcement since late-2017, when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration mandated electronic logging devices, hours of service violations in the aggregate have clearly trended downward, as shown in the graph above. 

Looked at another way, though, the intensity of focus on hours has increased in many jurisdictions, perhaps as inspectors get used to using available tools for e-log analysis to ferret out errors and omissions and find those violations within ELD output data.

Several states at the top of Overdrive's rankings this year actually posted an increase in the percentage of hours of service violations issued over the course of the 2020 calendar-year. That trend held nationally, too, even as COVID-19 put a damper on inspection totals in all but two states around the nation.     

The phenomenon is particularly concentrated across the Western half of the country, where top-20 states in enforcement prioritization rankings are over-represented, covering a wide area. Among the 11 states highlighted red in the infographic below, 8 posted increased shares of hours violations in calendar year 2020. Counting down from the top of the list, those states include hours leader Colorado as well as Wyoming, Kansas, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Washington and Montana. What's more, all posted hours violation rates well above the 8.3% national average for 2020.    

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western states create an hours of service black holeDistances are approximate on the lanes highlighted.

If you're not running COVID-exempt (an exemption for certain commodities currently extended through August 31) or hauling relief related to the wildfires or spot fuel shortages in some states, be especially vigilant there about keeping those logbooks current and/or that ELD fully functional, as the case may be. It could save you a fine or worse, a likely more costly out of service order and delay.  

More enforcement-related resources/analysis from the CSA's Data Trail series: 

**Surviving a Level 3 driver inspection
**Charting state leaders for hours of service, lights (published in advance of Roadcheck)
**Refresher on the out-of-service violations for hours of service
**The 14-state speed trap
**Despite shifts in DOT policy, safety ratings still hard to come by for owner-ops in 2020
**Much more from our CSA's Data Trail section

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