What 395.252IIELDDDA means in plain language
Your Electronic Logging Device (ELD) is designed to record your duty status automatically, but it also requires you to provide written context when the system asks you to do so. This citation means you did not annotate your ELD record with a description of your activity when your device prompted you to do that.
In practical terms: your ELD detected a gap, a transition, or an unclear period in your duty status and asked you to explain what you were doing during that time. You either didn't respond, or your response was absent or incomplete. Annotations are the ELD's way of letting inspectors understand what was happening during periods that aren't fully captured by the automatic record.
This is different from falsifying your record or failing to turn on the device altogether. You were using the ELD, but you skipped the annotation step when prompted.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our 13 million+ roadside inspection records, this violation is extremely rare. We have recorded only 48 all-time citations for 395.252IIELDDDA, with zero citations issued in the last 12 months and zero in the last 90 days. This code ranks #1651 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume.
None of the 48 drivers cited for this violation were placed out of service, resulting in a 0.0% out-of-service rate. For context, the average out-of-service rate across all FMCSR codes is 31.4%, so this violation carries a significantly lower enforcement severity in terms of roadside removal.
The rarity of this citation and the zero out-of-service history suggest that inspectors are not treating unannotated ELD records as a critical safety failure, though the violation still remains on the books.
Who gets cited most
Our inspection data does not show any state-specific concentration for this code. The 48 all-time citations are scattered across multiple jurisdictions, and no single state emerges as a clear citation hotspot.
At the carrier level, our data shows that Remedy Trucking LLC (USDOT 2835969) has received 2 citations for this code, while nine other carriers—including Maverik Logistics LLC, Frank's Service and Trucking LLC, Martin's Feed Inc, Knight Transportation Inc, Stewart Transportation Co Inc, Brown Trucking Company, JD Transport Ltd, Transportadora Egoba SA de CV, and DS Services of America Inc—have each received 1 citation. These numbers do not suggest a systemic compliance problem at any single fleet; the violation appears to be isolated and sporadic across the industry.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
This code sits in the Hours of Service category alongside several related ELD and record-of-duty-status violations. To understand where it falls in severity:
395.24 (HOS (ELD) - ELD Form and Manner) has been cited 106,486 times with a 0.0% out-of-service rate, making it far more common but equally non-fatal in roadside enforcement.
395.8E-HOSPD (False record of duty status) has 83,660 all-time citations and a 9.6% out-of-service rate, indicating that when inspectors think you've intentionally falsified your record, they're more likely to remove you from service.
395.30B1-ELDDFR (HOS (ELD) - Driver failing to review records and certify accuracy) shows 70,864 citations with a 0.0% out-of-service rate, suggesting that missing review and certification steps—similar in nature to missing annotations—are treated leniently at roadside.
In this peer group, 395.252IIELDDDA's lack of out-of-service citations aligns it with other procedural ELD failures rather than with substantive hours-of-service violations, which tend to carry higher removal rates.
How to avoid it
Preventing this citation requires you to actively engage with your ELD's annotation features during and after your driving day:
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Respond immediately when your ELD prompts for annotation. Do not ignore notifications asking you to describe your activity. These prompts appear when the system detects a transition or gap; answering them takes 30 seconds and closes the loop.
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Understand what triggers annotation requests. Most ELDs ask for annotations when you switch between on-duty-not-driving and driving time, or when there's a significant gap in recorded activity. Familiarize yourself with your device's behavior so you can anticipate and address these prompts before they become inspection findings.
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Keep annotations brief but complete. You don't need to write an essay. A sentence or two describing your activity (e.g., "fueling stop at Love's, fuel pump 3" or "waiting for load at shipper dock") is sufficient. The goal is clarity for inspectors, not documentation for lawyers.
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Review your ELD record daily. Spend two minutes at the end of each day checking that all transitions and gaps are annotated. This gives you a chance to fill in any missing descriptions while the events are still fresh in your memory, rather than discovering the gaps during an inspection.
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Verify your device is functioning. If your ELD is malfunctioning or not sending you prompts, report it to your carrier's compliance team immediately. A broken annotation system puts you at risk of citations even if you're trying to comply.
Because this citation is so rare, it is not typically part of a pattern of non-compliance. If you've been cited, treat it as a reminder to stay engaged with your ELD rather than as a sign of systemic negligence.