Ghost Drivers: Falsified ELD Records Draw Scrutiny

Federal regulators, law enforcement, and industry groups are intensifying efforts to combat ELD manipulation as carriers and vendors use increasingly sophisticated methods to falsify hours-of-service records. False logs remain widespread, with more than 58,000 false-duty-status violations in 2025, and carriers gaining unfair economic advantages. The FMCSA is delisting noncompliant devices, the ATA is developing certification recommendations, and Congress is considering the GHOSTRUCK Act to curb manipulation. Federally mandated electronic logging devices have made driver hours-of-service violations harder to hide, but bad actors have devised methods to cheat. Some schemes involve fictitious driver accounts, sometimes described as ‘ghost drivers,’ created by third-party dispatchers or rogue ELD providers to obscure the driver’s actual time behind the wheel and circumvent HOS limits. Industry reporting has shown that some foreign ELD providers are selling devices in the U.S. with the express aim of helping falsify driver logs. While there have always been drivers and fleets that work around the edges of the HOS rules, this form of ELD manipulation goes further. Simpler tactics for manipulating driver records remain as well, including misuse of personal conveyance and yard-move statuses, edits that convert on-duty time to off-duty time, and unassigned-driving events that are never properly attributed to a driver. Tougher enforcement is underway, with CVSA placing heightened emphasis on ELD tampering, falsification, and manipulation during its annual International Roadcheck enforcement blitz. Inspectors are turning to other sources to verify driver hours, including fuel and meal receipts, bills of lading, toll records, and GPS data. Increasingly, inspectors are utilizing license plate readers to compare a truck’s location with its electronic logs.