• The original RODS must be submitted by the driver to the regularly employing motor carrier within 13 days of completion.
• Along with the original RODS for the current day, the driver must retain a copy of each record for the previous seven consecutive days.
• The motor carrier must retain all RODS at its principal place of business, regional office, or the driver’s home terminal for six months after receipt.

A driver must submit (or forward by mail) each original record of duty status (RODS) to the regularly employing motor carrier within 13 days of completion. If the driver is used by more than one carrier during any 24-hour period, a copy of the record must be submitted to each carrier (which may involve printing the record onto paper from an electronic logging device (ELD) if the other carrier cannot accept an electronic copy).

Record retention

A motor carrier must retain each daily log, along with all supporting documents, at its principal place of business, regional office, or driver work-reporting location for a period of six months from the date of receipt. The records must be made available at the principal place of business or other designated location within 48 hours of a request by an authorized official.

A driver must retain a copy of each record for the previous seven consecutive days. Those records, along with the original record for the current day, must be in the driver’s possession and available for inspection while on duty.

Hawaii exception

Standard records of duty status (logs) are not required for a driver operating CMVs in Hawaii if the motor carrier retains, for a period of six months, records showing the total number of hours the driver is on duty each day and the time at which the driver reports for and is released from duty each day.

Scanned Logs

The requirement that logs must be completed “in duplicate” can be met by electronically submitting a scanned image of the original handwritten logs to the motor carrier within 13 days after completion, while the driver retains the original records for the current day and the previous 7 consecutive days. The original logs can then be discarded if they have been suitably scanned. Motor carriers must maintain the scanned image of the signed logs and all supporting documents for each driver for a period of six months from the date of receipt. Refer to Question 29 in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s interpretations for 395.8.