An Automatic On-board Recording Device (AOBRD) and an Electronic Logging Device (ELD) are pieces of hardware that connect to a truck's computer to record driver's Hours-of-Service (HOS). The AOBRD rule complies with the 1988 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) standard, whereas the ELD rule complies with the more recent 2015 standard. Note that AOBRD devices installed on trucks before 18th of December, 2017 can be used until December 16th, 2019 before switching to ELD devices. Devices that are purchased and installed on trucks after the 18th of December, 2017 must be fully ELD compliant.

AOBRD regulations were written at the time when the technology was less capable and it was not practical to demand that an electronic device would have to monitor all of the driver's activities. ELD regulations are based on the modern technology and so ELD is expected to be much more capable of automatically monitoring driver behaviour.

Here is what FMCSA says about the differences between AOBRDs and ELDs.

Basically ELD must record all status driving changes automatically, it must record intermediate driving events every 60 minutes, it must know the position of the vehicle based on the GPS technology, it must record all changes that the driver is making to the log book and it must be able to report all of the log book information together with the history of log book changes to FMCSA upon demand of an inspector.

With AOBRDs drivers can record their driving behaviour manually, AOBRDs must provide "integral synchronization" with the engine but the details of the requirement are not defined in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

With AOBRDs reporting of the driver's Records Of Duty Status (RODS) has to be possible but it is undefined how it should be done.

FMCSA specifies that AOBRDs are grandfathered until the 16th of December, 2019.

TrackEnsure is an easy to use application, which complies with the FMCSA regulations eCFR Title 49, part 395 for both AOBRD and ELD regulations. It provides features such as:

• HOS logging
• IFTA calculations
• Driver-Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR)
• Location tracking and location history
• Geofencing and reporting

You can start using TrackEnsure ELD / AOBRD device by installing TrackEnsure ELD application from Google Play Store for Android devices and from iTunes for iOS devices.