How independent owner-operators describe their level of satisfaction with their ELD provider
Following the implosion of the One20 company just a month or two into the beginning of “hard enforcement” of the electronic logging device mandate, leaving its untold number of owner-operator customers scrambling for a replacement ELD, many provider companies who’ve better stood the test of time are nonetheless being rated with a thumbs-down by independents owner-ops with authority, new polling results show.
As indicated above, with polling taking place in late October through early November here at OverdriveOnline.com, almost half of owner-operator respondents who’d put on an e-log reported a no-satisfaction level with their ELD provider — add those who were only “somewhat or a little satisfied,” and you can account for more than 6 in 10 independents using an ELD today.
While some of the dissatisfaction might be attributed to continuing antipathy to the very fact of the mandate — ELDs are “for the steering wheel holders,” noted Mikey, commenting here at OverdriveOnline.com, adding, “All owner-operators should just have the option” to run ELDs or not — common ELD hardware and software issues clearly continued to bedevil many.
John Steiner reported hardware issues having to do with tablets in his ELD pairing. He’s already been through one tablet, and “the replacement freezes up” too often. When it does, he has to “shut it off and start it up again, two-three times a day. This costs me two-three minutes every time.”
Has your ELD journey been smooth sailing or more like treading rough waters? If you’re reading on a smartphone, tap the image to call and tell your story with a message on our podcast line. If you’re on a desktop, call 530-408-6423. Make sure to tell us your name and state of residence.Mark D. Campos was one of the 15 percent or so of readers responding to the original poll as a leased owner-operators or company drivers — poll results above excised respondents who didn’t have a choice in the ELD they utilized or who were exempt. Campos, however, has experienced similar issues, he noted, to those of Steiner in his leased operation. Though he says the PeopleNet company, provider of the communications and e-logs system he’s using, seems to be good about updates and the like, “when the system crashes in motion, it takes some time to reboot and get running again. When it does happen, there’s a good five minutes or so roadside.”
Catch our prior reporting on a bevy of technical glitches and/or customer service issues via these links:
Thirteen percent of poll respondents overall, meanwhile, were exempt from the mandate, commenter Mikey among them. On this Thanksgiving week, the owner-operator’s sentiment about all that better fits the season, as it were: He reported he was “grateful I’m exempt, and making big money.”
