A black box is a device in an 18-wheeler that documents information about a particular commercial motor vehicle’s movement over time. It can refer to two different types of devices: an electronic logging device (ELD) or an event data recorder. Both types help determine the route, travel time, trip length, speeds, hours of service, break time, and other information that may be important in an 18-wheeler accident case.
What is an Electronic Logging Device?
An electronic logging device (ELD) connects to the engine of a commercial motor vehicle and tracks driving hours to ensure compliance with federally mandated Records of Duty Status and Hours of Service. ELDs automatically record the date, time, location, engine hours, vehicle miles, and identifying info for the driver and carrier whenever there is a change in duty status or a change to a special driving category as defined by federal law. ELDs also record driving information hourly when the vehicle is in use. They may be dedicated units or “bring your own device” ELDs, which connect to a cell phone, tablet, or another device to transmit data. In December 2015, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration passed a rule mandating that trucks no older than the year 2000 implement electronic logging devices, or “ELDs,” for their Hours-of-Service tracking system.
What is an Event Data Recorder?
An event data recorder is a device that is found in many modern 18-wheelers and other commercial trucks. These devices come in different makes and models and may record a multitude of information including the times the truck was in operation and out of service when it started and stopped, the truck’s minimum and maximum speeds at certain times, arrival and departure times from various destinations, when cruise control was on or off, whether and when brakes were applied before and during a crash, speed when the hard brake occurred and more. Modern event data recorders are generally set to store data from critical events, such as a crash, for a few minutes before and at least 30 seconds after. These black boxes can be critical to establishing exactly when a truck driver perceived an emergency situation and how he reacted.
Why Are Event Data Recorders and Electronic Logging Devices Important?
Event data recorders and electronic logging devices come in many brands and styles. Each style stores different types of data. Some are designed primarily to determine what happened in an accident or “critical event,” while others monitor truck drivers’ driving habits via satellite. Some allow the trucking company to print out a full report showing where a truck driver was at any given moment. By comparing this information with driving logs, a truck accident attorney can determine whether hours-of-service rules and speed limits were followed in the hours leading up to the wreck.
Driver fatigue is a huge problem among truck drivers because companies often pay them per load. This means that the more they drive and haul loads, the more they make. Sleeping and resting do not pay. This type of data is invaluable to a truck accident lawyer in establishing why a driver fell asleep at the wheel and that the company’s policies are the real reason it occurred.
Who Makes Black Boxes?
Several companies make “black boxes” for use in tracking 18-wheelers. Qualcomm, Teletracs, and Omnitracs are three examples of black box makers. They design GPS-driven data-collection recorders for the trucking industry to help companies monitor their fleet, regulate driving, and coordinate load pick-up. Some of these systems even allow trucking companies to control the temperature in temperature-controlled trucks.
What Are Black Boxes Used For?
A black box helps a trucking company know what its drivers are doing and where they are at any given moment. They make conducting business more efficient for over-the-road haulers.
How a Truck Accident Lawyer Obtains and Reads the Black Box Data
Obtaining the Raw Data
A truck accident lawyer can preserve a black box by promptly sending a preservation-of-evidence letter to the trucking company in possession of the box and then filing a lawsuit in order to request and obtain permission to perform a download of the information in the box.
A preservation-of-evidence letter, a/k/a spoliation-of-evidence letter, is a letter that advises the trucking company that the accident is likely to be the subject of litigation and that there is important evidence that needs to be preserved by law on the black box. Upon receiving this notice, the trucking company is on notice of the evidence’s importance and has a duty to maintain it. Failure to do so after being put on notice subjects them to penalties and sanctions in a civil action.
Once the duty to preserve the evidence exists, the next step is to file a lawsuit and send out written requests for production. Requests for production are a litigation tool by which one side requests the other side turn over certain relevant evidence. If they fail to do so, the requesting side may seek a court order via a motion to compel discovery.
Reading the Data
Obtaining the raw data, however, is not the end. The raw data is often produced in a hard-to-understand form. It is important that your 18-wheeler accident attorney has the right expert witnesses available for hire to review the data and interpret anything peculiar about the specific “black box” data you have in question. Accident reconstruction experts and forensic download specialists typically have the knowledge and skill to acquire and decipher the information.
Talk to Our Lawyers
At Simmons and Fetcher, P.C., our truck accident lawyers have acquired black box data in many cases over the years and used it to determine that drivers were speeding and/or violating operational safety rules, which contributed to a collision. If you would like a free, no-obligation case evaluation, please give us a call
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