The United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is taking another step to prevent driver fatigue, and maybe needless crashes or fatalities, by implementing electronic logging records to keep track of driver’s hours on the road.

Drivers are used to reporting their “on hours” and “off hours” in written logs which can be difficult for the driver and make it hard to keep track of hours for regulatory agencies. By automating the logging system, drivers have an easier way to check in and agencies can keep track of their hours behind the wheel, hopefully making it easier for them to see who is spending too much time on the road and not enough time resting.

The electronic logging devices (ELD) will reduce paperwork and is predicted to prevent 562 injuries on the road each year. They sync with the truck’s engine to record drive time. Truck drivers and bus drivers who drive a commercial vehicle will have to adopt the ELD system within two years. The information the agency collects cannot be used against a driver in terms of harassment from law enforcement, shippers, or other transportation related companies.

“This is a win for all motorists on our nation’s roadways,” said FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling. “Employing technology to ensure that commercial drivers comply with federal hours-of-service rules will prevent crashes and save lives.”

The hours-of-service rule is still being debated in the legislature. The provision that asked drivers who had been driving 60-70 hours to take a 34 hour break before restarting was suspended last year. The agency expects to submit the results of a study on the driver restart rules to see if there were negative effects that came out of suspending longer rest periods for drivers.