FMCSR 395.32(b) ELD Tamper/Disable: Driver Q&A

No. Across all 7,092 citations of 395.32(b) in our inspection records, the out-of-service rate is exactly 0.0%—meaning not a single driver was placed out of service on this violation alone. For context, the all-FMCSR average OOS rate is 31.4%, so this code sits far below the norm for taking a vehicle or driver off the road immediately. You will receive the citation and it will hit your CSA record, but you will not be parked roadside because of it.

395.32(b) carries a severity weight of 10—the maximum on the CSA scale. That base score is then multiplied based on how recently the inspection occurred: violations in the last 6 months receive a 3× time-weight multiplier, those between 6 and 12 months get 2×, and anything older counts at 1×. A fresh 395.32(b) citation can therefore show up as an effective score of 30 points in your Hours of Service BASIC. Given that CSA uses the most recent 24 months of data, a single citation at maximum severity can move your carrier's percentile ranking noticeably.

Act on documentation first. Here are the immediate steps:

1. Secure the inspection report. Get a copy of the roadside inspection before you leave.
2. Do not touch the ELD further. Any additional interaction with the device could complicate a later DataQs challenge.
3. Notify your fleet safety manager today. This violation carries a severity weight of 10—the highest possible—so your carrier needs to know immediately for CSA BASIC management.
4. Document the device's condition. Photograph or video the ELD display and any error codes before the unit is reset or serviced.
5. Pull your supporting logs. Gather paper logs, AOBRD exports, or any backup records that show your actual duty status during the period in question.

Yes, in terms of CSA severity it is among the most serious HOS codes on the books. At a severity weight of 10, it sits at the ceiling. By comparison, peer codes in the Hours of Service category show a wide range of enforcement volume: 395.24 (ELD form and manner) has 106,486 all-time citations, and 395.8E-HOSPD (false record of duty status) has 83,660 citations—both dwarfing 395.32(b)'s 7,092. The lower citation count does not mean inspectors overlook it; the 10-point severity weight signals that regulators treat ELD tampering as an intentional act, placing it in a different risk tier than paperwork errors.

Yes, you can submit a challenge through FMCSA's DataQs system (Request for Data Review). 395.32(b) is a documentation/behavior finding, not a mechanical defect, which means the dispute often turns on whether the inspector's interpretation of the ELD data was accurate. To challenge it: log into DataQs at dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov, locate the inspection by report number, and submit evidence—device logs, ELD provider records, maintenance documentation, or driver statements—that contradicts the tampering finding. The reviewing state agency or FMCSA will evaluate the submission. If the challenge succeeds, the violation is removed from your PSP and your carrier's SMS data.

The top-states data in our inspection database does not surface specific state names for this code in the current statistics block, so we cannot responsibly name a ranked list here. What we can say is that 395.32(b) is ranked #281 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by all-time citation volume nationally, with 7,092 total citations. Enforcement activity has been zero in both the last 90 days and the last 12 months, suggesting either a shift in enforcement focus or a reporting lag in the dataset as of the April 2026 snapshot.

Urgency is high, even though this violation will not park you immediately. The 0.0% OOS rate means inspectors are not pulling drivers for this finding alone, but the severity weight of 10 means every citation compounds your CSA Hours of Service BASIC score heavily. Critically, our inspection records show zero citations in the last 90 days and zero in the last 12 months—if enforcement ramps back up, carriers with unresolved ELD integrity issues will be exposed. Address the root cause—whether hardware failure, software misconfiguration, or driver behavior—before the next inspection, because a second citation in the same 24-month window stacks directly on top of the first in CSA scoring.

Both. In FMCSA's CSA system, a violation recorded during a roadside inspection is attributed to the carrier in its Safety Measurement System (SMS) BASIC scores, affecting the carrier's Hours of Service percentile ranking. The same inspection record is attached to the driver via the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) report, which prospective employers can access. Because 395.32(b) carries a severity weight of 10—the maximum—it is one of the most damaging individual citations that can appear on either record. Drivers who change carriers do not leave the citation behind; it stays on their PSP for 3 years from the inspection date.