Finger on the ELD mandate — good marketing or well over the line?

user-gravatar Headshot
Updated Sep 17, 2017

One20 F Eld Ad 2017 09 11 16 17

Friday night in the truck-parking lot at GATS the trailer pictured here trying to get you to buy the One20 F-ELD was an active topic of discussion among drivers gathered, as was (I’m sure) hoped for by the ad’s purveyors. The One20 F-ELD is probably the least expensive ELD on the market today — it is available for $170 one-time. Fleets of fewer than 10 trucks contracted with broker C.H. Robinson, furthermore, can get it at a discount. The ECM plug-in device pairs with Android- or iOS-powered smartphones or tablets, and there are no monthly fees associated with it. (And yes, the company has registered its ELD with FMCSA.)

But one of those drivers talking at GATS, who sent in this picture, asked a question about something that, for him, raises all kinds of professional-image hackles, as it were: “Is this good marketing or just over the line?” he asked. “My opinion [is it’s] over the line. I’m proud to be a professional driver of the old-school traditions. A vendor thinking that this is how to market to me was insulting.”

He suggested I put his question out for a vote among all of you — grand idea. What do you say?