FMCSA working on rule to end ELD self-certification

FMCSA Deputy Administrator Jesse Elison said Thursday that the agency is working on a rule to end the self-certification process for electronic logging devices, calling it one of Administrator Derek Barrs' top priorities.

"The self-certification process — I've never heard anybody argue that it has worked. It just hasn't worked," Elison said during the keynote address at the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) Cybersecurity Conference in Long Beach, California. He declined to give a timeline for the rule, adding that "the real challenge is making sure that the rule is reworked in a way that works for our industry."

In the meantime, Elison said FMCSA has removed nearly 100 ELDs from the registry since the start of 2025 while certifying only "one or two" new providers, and has kept many other noncompliant devices from being added.

Elison also said fixes to the troubled Motus registration system should be noticeable "in a matter of weeks," though back-end work will take longer. "A carrier is not going to need to have a consultant to navigate our system," he said. FMCSA suspended the inactivation of USDOT numbers for entities that had not completed the biennial update back in July, after the mid-May launch stumbled.

Elison framed both efforts — the Motus fixes and ending ELD self-certification — as part of the fight against cargo theft and fraud, crediting support from Vice President J.D. Vance's "Task Force to Eliminate Fraud."

Why it matters: Ending self-certification would be the biggest change to the ELD regime since the mandate itself — and the registry purge is already shrinking drivers' compliant-device choices.