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Omnitracs Knowledge Base

Diagnostic, Malfunction, and Sensor Alerts

Drivers may see various diagnostic, malfunction, and sensor alerts as part of the mobile's boot-up process or during operation. You can help your drivers troubleshoot these issues using the following procedures or print this page and distribute it to your fleet.

Be aware that if any malfunction requires a driver to maintain paper logs for a period exceeding eight days, the vehicle/driver will not be in compliance with the ELD mandate unless the FMCSA grants an extension to use paper logs beyond the eight-day limitation.

Compliance Area Diagnostics Malfunction Possible Cause Suggested Action
Power

A Power Data Diagnostic event occurs:

  • when an ELD is not powered and fully functional within one minute of the vehicle’s engine receiving power; or
  • when an ELD does not remain powered for as long as the vehicle’s engine stays powered

The ELD Mandate constitutes an aggregate time of 30 minutes of in-motion time over a DOT Day to be a power compliance malfunction.

A Power Compliance Malfunction occurs when there is a gap of 15 miles or more between odometer readings taken at power compliance diagnostic logged and cleared events (the unit uses a mileage gap to determine the 30 minutes of in motion time specified by the ELD). This will be indicated on the driver's log. The Power Compliance Malfunction is cleared at the end of the DOT day (midnight). This will be indicated on the driver's log.

Diagnostic

This can occur if the unit does not power up within one minute of the vehicle powering up. This can occur if the unit has sudden power loss while the vehicle is in motion.

Malfunction

This can occur if the unit loses power for 30 minutes of in-motion time or more. (15 miles or more of unaccounted driving time)

Diagnostic

  1. Wait for unit to power up. (1 minute)
  2. Ensure unit is securely connected at the vehicle connection point.

Malfunction

  1. The driver should review their log to confirm that all duty statuses have been recorded accurately. If duty statuses are missing, the driver should edit their log to add the events and add remarks to identify why the correction was needed. The driver should only resort to paper logs if the unit frequently reboots, impacting the accurate recording of their logs.
  2. Ensure unit is securely connected at the vehicle connection point.
  3. Follow recommended mounting procedures. Check battery/voltage.
  4. If problem persists, contact your administrator or call support.
Engine Synchronization An Engine Synchronization Data Diagnostic event occurs when the ELD attempts to create an event but is not able to monitor the data from the ECM or populate all of the required fields for the event within a specified time. If the ELD is unable to monitor engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven, or engine hours, an engine synchronization data diagnostic event is created.

An Engine Synchronization Compliance Malfunction occurs when more than 30 minutes have accumulated during the log day without ECM connectivity to any of the required data sources (engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven, and engine hours).

The Engine Synchronization Compliance Malfunction is cleared at the end of the DOT Day (midnight). This will be indicated on the driver's log.

Diagnostic

This can occur when the unit is incorrectly connected to the ECM. The unit did not receive engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven within a specified time.

Malfunction

This can occur when the unit is incorrectly connected to the ECM. This unit could not retrieve an aggregated 30 minutes of engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven, or engine hours within a specified time.

Diagnostic

  1. Wait for unit to receive respective information from ECM. ( 3 minutes)

Malfunction

  1. Ensure unit is correctly connected to the tractor's ECM.
  2. Ensure that the connection point is clean and that it is the correct cable for vehicle type.
  3. The driver should review their log to determine if the malfunction is hindering the accurate recording of their duty statuses. If the malfunction impacted the driver's log, the driver should keep a paper log until they log out from the vehicle or until the end of the DOT day (whichever comes first). If the malfunction is not impacting the accurate recording of the log, the driver should document in the remarks that the malfunction did not impact the log.
  4. If problem persists, contact your administrator or call support to verify that VDS settings are correct for the year, make, and model of the vehicle.
Data Recording NA A Data Recording Compliance Malfunction occurs once the unit cannot or does not record or retain required events or retrieve logs that are not available via the Host component or the motor carrier. This can also occur if the ELD unit unexpectedly crashed and has potential Hours of Service data loss. The Data Recording Compliance Malfunction is cleared at the end of the DOT Day (midnight). This will be indicated on the driver's log.

Malfunction

This can occur if the unit is low on memory/storage.

Malfunction

  1. The driver should keep a paper log until the driver logs out of the ELD in the vehicle or until the end of the DOT day (whichever comes first).
  2. Log out of the unit.
  3. On the mobile menu select System, then select the Performance tab and check the CPU/Memory for consistent usage of 95% or above. Run Diagnostics and confirm that Core Data Items is functioning properly. If issues persist, proceed to step 4.
  4. Call support for NVRAM reset.
  5. If problem persists, contact your administrator to arrange service to ensure proper connectivity of the mobile.
Missing Data Diagnostic A Missing Required Data Elements Data Diagnostic event occurs when the ELD attempts to create an event, but one or more of the required data fields is missing at the time of its recording. The missing data element is displayed as "N/A" in the driver's log event list.  

Diagnostic

This can occur if the unit is unable to retrieve correct data from the ECM. If there is an engine sync diagnostic event or position malfunction event, there is a possibility of multiple missing data diagnostic events.

Diagnostic

  1. Ensure that all appropriate driver statuses have been recorded and that load information is entered into the system. Edit log to add missing location if necessary.
  2. Ensure unit is retrieving information from the ECM.
  3. Check the unit's communication.
  4. Perform a TIU reset if the issue persists.
Data Transfer A data transfer data diagnostic event occurs when the eRODS file generation automatic self test, that occurs every 7 days, fails to generate a file. When a diagnostic is created, the self test frequency increases to once every 24 hours (as long as a driver is logged in). A data transfer compliance malfunction occurs when the eRODS file generation automatic self-test, which occurs every 24 hours, fails to generate a file 3 times in succession. The malfunction is cleared when the eRODS file generation automatic self-test can generate a valid eRODS file.

Diagnostic

This can occur if the unit is lacking communication to server.

Malfunction

This can occur if the unit is lacking communication to server.

Diagnostic

  1. Do a manual eRODS Test.
  2. Check the unit's communication.
  3. Request Out-of-Sync command. Keep in mind that it will log out the driver.

Malfunction

  1. The driver should keep a paper log until the driver logs out from the vehicle or until the end of the DOT day (whichever comes first).
  2. Do a manual eRODS Test.
  3. Check the unit's communication.
  4. Request Out-of-Sync command. Keep in mind that it will log out the driver.
  5. If problem persists, contact your administrator or call support.
Unidentified Driving Time An unidentified driving records data diagnostic event occurs when more than 30 minutes of driving time for an unidentified driver is recorded for the current vehicle within the current log day or during any of the previous 7 days. The diagnostic is cleared when the driving time recorded for an unidentified driver for the current vehicle falls below 15 minutes within the current log day and any of the previous 7 days. NA

Diagnostic

This occurs when the driver fails to log in to an ELD and drives the vehicle, exceeding the limitations specified by the FMCSA..

Diagnostic

  1. Log into device.
  2. Address necessary unidentified driving segments.
  3. If problem persists, contact your administrator.
Position NA A Position Compliance Malfunction occurs when the unit GPS fails to acquire a valid position within 5 miles of the vehicle moving and 60 minutes of movement has been recorded during the current log day without a valid location. Keep in mind that if driver moves vehicle in such state, the unit generates a missing data elements data diagnostic event as well.

Malfunction

This can occur if the unit lost GPS signal.

Malfunction

  1. The driver should add the missing locations to the log manually by editing the affected duty statuses until the driver logs out from the vehicle or until the end of the DOT day (whichever comes first).
  2. Check unit's communication and GPS signal.
  3. Check that there is no blockage of the antenna's line of sight.
  4. Check for any GPS Blockers/ electronic interference (for example, metal clipboard on dash and some radio connections).
  5. If problem persists, contact your administrator or call support.
Timing NA A Timing Compliance Malfunction occurs when the unit's time deviates from its reference source by more than 10 minutes.

Malfunction

This can occur if the unit could have experienced Clock Drift.

Malfunction

  1. The driver should keep a paper log until the malfunction clears.
  2. Check the unit's communication.
  3. Log out of the device, wait a minute, and then log back in to the device to see if the unit's time has updated.
  4. The driver should log out of the device and contact their administrator or support for an NVRAM reset.
  5. Reinstall firmware and OS using an integrated installer stick.
Other ELD Detected        
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