FMCSR 395.8(e): False Record of Duty Status — Driver Q&A

No. Across all roadside inspections in our database, 395.8(e) citations result in an out-of-service placement 0.0% of the time. This means inspectors cite the violation but do not immediately remove you from service based on this code alone. However, 395.8(e) is OOS-eligible, so if compounding factors are present, an officer has the authority to place you out of service.

This violation carries a CSA severity weight of 10 points. In the Safety Management System, your BASIC score is calculated by summing severity weights across all violations in a rolling 30-month window. A single 395.8(e) citation adds 10 points immediately; multiple citations compound. The exact impact on your overall BASIC score depends on your citation history.

First, request a copy of the inspection report and citation details from the officer or your carrier. Document everything the officer observed—which log entries were flagged, what discrepancies they identified, and the exact timestamps. Second, review your logbook or ELD records yourself to understand the allegation. Third, consult with your carrier's safety or compliance team immediately. They may help you file a DataQs challenge if documentation was misinterpreted or if the officer made an error in identifying the violation.

It depends on the specific code. Our data shows that related HOS violations have widely different enforcement patterns. For example, 395.8(e)(1) has a 26.0% out-of-service rate and 78,276 all-time citations, while 395.8A1-HOSP has a 92.9% OOS rate. The false record violation itself (395.8(e)) has not been cited in our 13 million-record database, suggesting it may be less commonly enforced or subsumed under related codes like 395.8E-HOSPD, which carries a 9.6% OOS rate.

Yes. The DataQs program allows drivers and carriers to challenge roadside inspection findings that they believe are inaccurate or unsupported. For 395.8(e), challenges typically focus on documentation disputes—whether your log entries were actually false, misread, or taken out of context by the officer. Submit your challenge within 90 days of the citation through the FMCSA Safety Data portal with copies of your corrected logs or ELD records and a detailed explanation of the error.

False record of duty status (395.8(e)) has a 0.0% out-of-service rate in our database. By contrast, failing to use the appropriate method to record hours (395.8(a)(1)) results in out-of-service 93.2% of the time, and not maintaining a record at all (395.8A1-HOSP) hits 92.9% OOS. The data shows that violating the method of recording is far more likely to trigger an immediate removal from service than falsifying an entry after the fact.

Across our database of 13 million roadside inspection records, we see zero citations of 395.8(e) in the last 12 months and zero all-time. This may indicate that the violation is either extremely rare, not commonly tagged by inspection officers, or categorized under a related code like 395.8E-HOSPD, which has 83,660 all-time citations and a 9.6% out-of-service rate. If you receive this citation, verify with your carrier that the code is correct.

Hours-of-service violations belong to the BASIC 2 group and appear on both your driver record and your carrier's record in the Safety Management System. The same citation counts toward your individual driver BASIC score and your carrier's BASIC score. If you change employers, the violation stays on your record; it does not transfer to a new carrier but remains part of your 30-month violation history for CSA calculations.