Electronic Logging Devices

Regulations
Questions to consider about looming Canadian ELD mandate enforcement
Chiefly, transfer of log data through an eRODS-software-type system for analysis will not be happening initially. Meanwhile, with no registered ELDs, still no clear indication an enforcement delay from June 12 is in the offing from Canadian regulators.
February 11, 2021
Canadian Eld Mandate
Channel 19
Don't forget what they say about double negatives ...
One eagle-eyed owner-operator and grammar enthusiast offers an intriguing object lesson with these no-engine-brakes signs -- and: Still no devices on Canada's ELD registry with mandate deadline five months out.
February 8, 2021
Double Negative No Engine Brake
Electronic Logging Devices
ELD makers report ongoing updates as drivers navigate new hours options
Some ELD apps sowed confusion for drivers trying to use new split-sleeper options. ELD makers acknowledge that software updates are being deployed to correct.
October 15, 2020
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Electronic Logging Devices
POLL: Has your ELD updated its compliance-assist elements to reflect the hours changes?
Whether you’ve tried out any of the new flexibilities in the hours of service rule or not, this poll asks if your electronic logging device has updated the underlying rule-sets in its time counters/other compliance assist elements as of September 29.
September 29, 2020
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Electronic Logging Devices
As ELD provider list narrows, questions arise over accuracy of DOT registry
As ELD vendors consolidate in the coming months and years, and as new hours of service rule takes effect in later this month, can FMCSA ensure the list remains up to date?
September 7, 2020
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Electronic Logging Devices
After ‘ELD scars,’ savvy owner-ops look for functionality, features, privacy in choosing e-logs
As owner-operators now have, in most cases, years of experience dealing with ELDs, they're more savvy buyers of electronic logging devices.
July 22, 2020
Read this series on consolidation among ELD providers from July.
Electronic Logging Devices
As ELD provider list narrows, questions arise over accuracy of DOT registry
As the ELD market shifts, questions have arisen over whether FMCSA can keep the registry up to date.
July 20, 2020
eld-tablet-registry-dot-2020-07-16-12-37
Electronic Logging Devices
Owner-operators, some already forced to switch ELD providers, stare down turbulent e-log market
Could the electronic logging device market be headed for consolidation? If so, what does that mean for owner-operators and small fleets? Find out on Overdrive.
July 16, 2020
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Electronic Logging Devices
Cybersecurity 101: ELDs’ susceptibility to cyber attacks
Since ELDs use wireless connections to manage data, vigilant owner-operators and small fleet owners must take cybersecurity seriously to ward off cyber attacks.
June 16, 2020
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Electronic Logging Devices
In message pushing ELD mandate victories, FMCSA boss addresses tampering concerns
FMCSA's Jim Mullen, acting administrator, touted the successes of the ELD mandate -- but said the agency will look at issues of ELD tampering, too.
March 3, 2020
Unlike an AOBRD, an ELD is required to automatically record nondriving activities above 5 mph (yard moves, for instance) on the drive line unless they’re specified otherwise. That and other previews from carriers that have made the transition are explained in this September series, which includes a guide to ELDs downloadable via this link for operators facing the deadline or others looking to change providers.
Electronic Logging Devices
ELDs create volumes of data, and vendors are putting it to use for truckers — and themselves
In this story from June, Overdrive explored in depth what ELD providers and other companies do with the data that truckers generate from electronic logging devices. Mostly free from any regulation, ELD vendors are free to compile and monetize drivers’ data, or put it to use to create new services.
December 19, 2019
Electronic Logging Devices
AOBRD-to-ELD switch: Keeping up with cellular networks upgrade
With the final ELD deadline a month out, reporting here on an added wrinkle to AOBRD-to-ELD transition decisions, given a great deal of ELD hardware and software are running over 3G networks that will soon be obsolete.
November 15, 2019
“We do a lot more than the hours of service on our tablets,” said Mike Degeneffe, Schneider’s vice president of IT solution delivery. “The tablet is an extension of our back office.” Software on the tablets for hours recording is by the Platform Science company. The tablets’ Android platform should position the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based carrier well for the 3G network’s sunset starting this year.
Electronic Logging Devices
Omnitracs: ELDs back online after service disruption
Partial service has been restored for 99% of the Omnitracs devices affected by this weekend’s service disruption, says Omnitracs CEO Ray Greer. The temporary software patch is an interim fix until a permanent firmware update can be deployed, Greer said.
November 7, 2019
The prospect of tracking not just driver hours of service, but the location of a truck and driver, lies at the heart of a challenge to the electronic logging device mandate.
Electronic Logging Devices
FMCSA: No chance ELD deadline will be delayed
If you’re hoping for a delay in enforcement of the looming deadline to adopt an electronic logging device, don’t count on it, says Joe DeLorenzo, head of enforcement for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
October 29, 2019
Though it’s subject to change, the annual three-day Roadcheck Inspection Blitz is still scheduled to take place May 5-7, CVSA says.
Electronic Logging Devices
ELDs’ final shift: How poor customer service can cause noncompliance
60 days out from the Dec. 17. AOBRD-to-ELD transition deadline, the latest in this series explores issues of customer service, in part driving some owner-operators’ and fleets’ provider decisions as the adoption of ELD technology proceeds.
October 17, 2019
Small-fleet owner Bill Frerichs learned how easy it is to fall out of compliance when an ELD provider takes Two tech hurdles too long to repair or replace malfunctioning products.
Electronic Logging Devices
AOBRD-to-ELD: Tech providers on data handling, hours changes, improving core and ancillary functionality
“Nobody’s in a race to be regulated,” noted Pedigree Technologies CEO Wade Wilson, speaking with three other ELD providers in August on the subject of the AOBRD-to-ELD shift. While there’s certainly general antipathy among truckers to the mandate, a variety of business cases can be made for telematics technology.
October 10, 2019
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Electronic Logging Devices
Goodbye, AOBRD: Shifting loyalties, yard moves and other challenges
Considering options with any ELD provider when making an upgrade from AOBRD technology can involve much more than just the basic differences between regulatory requirements of AOBRDs and ELDs — many devices come with a host of ancillary functions. Also: More on yard moves, edits and other new challenges.
September 23, 2019
Previously in this series: Nussbaum Transportation, having used AOBRDs since 2005, began its ELD transition in May 2018 by forming a steering committee. Management later decided to replace all AOBRD hardware and software in its 430-truck fleet. The Hudson, Ill.-based truckload carrier switched to Geotab because it offered “a very open interface” that would support its needs in the back office and mobile strategies, says Jeremy Stickling, vice president of safety and human resources. The company chose a platform with a plug-and-play Go device that installs in the vehicle and connects wirelessly to an Android tablet display. In 2018, Schneider executed an earlier decision to not be dependent on a single vendor for electronic logging and telematics technology. The carrier chose a multivendor tablet-based approach. “We do a lot more than the hours of service on our tablets,” says Mike Degeneffe, Schneider’s vice president of IT solution delivery. “The tablet is an extension of our back office and a connection to our drivers.” The AOBRD and ELD software that runs on the tablets comes from Platform Science, of which Schneider is an investor. The mobile applications are segmented into a regulatory suite and a productivity suite. Drivers have become familiar with the tools, so as Schneider transitions to ELD software this year, “it’s not a big slap in the face since they are not going to a whole new system,” Degeneffe says. Safety director Doug Fry, with a Texas- and Georgia-based 200-truck fleet, recently completed a switch to Blue Tree Systems’ telematics platform for logging and more after learning that many of the legacy dedicated AOBRDs his fleet was running would soon need replacement. “Our old provider had discontinued the product and didn’t tell us,” Fry says. He learned this while ordering additional units. “We went with a company that we think has the right architecture” to build on. It uses what Fry calls a “brain box” buried in the dash that connects wirelessly to the display screen, which can be BYOD (or “bring your own device”) in nature. McLeod Software’s transportation management software (TMS) integration is also available for the fleet’s management system. Fry’s fleet plans to add forward-facing cameras and more. Cam systems also can serve to streamline telematics systems. Jason Palmer, chief operating officer for SmartDrive Systems, says the company’s dual-camera video unit can feed data through a single onboard platform that integrates with third-party ELD and telematics systems such as Geotab’s. Fleets “view data as a competitive advantage, both in how they are able to make drivers’ lives easier with access to data and information, and applications to make the job experience better,” Palmer says. Changes in pricing and functionality as ELD providers get more sophisticated with telematics service offerings have some carriers looking to consolidate as much data as they can through a single system. “Price pressure is as high as it’s ever been,” Witty says, representing a potential cost savings for carriers looking to switch. “ELD is a commodity now.” At the same time, Witty predicts that technology companies will no longer be able to survive just by providing ELD software. At the opposite pole of consolidating telematics is the base version of the Continental VDO RoadLog, a popular option among one-truck independents. It requires no subscription fee and perhaps the only ELD not connected to the Internet, now goes for around $100 less than it did prior to the mandate. Some other services’ monthly fees also have fallen, in some cases significantly. Other companies have enhanced functionality options with tiered pricing. The roughly $15 monthly basic version of the DriveELD product adds features such as turn-by-turn CoPilot truck-specific navigation for a slightly higher price. A fleet version adds further functionality. Yard moves and other challenges The most high-profile difference between ELDs and AOBRDs is that the former automatically records nondriving activities above 5 mph, including moves such as docking trailers, on the drive line unless a driver specifies them as otherwise. “Every time the truck moves, you have got to have a name for that move on the drive line,” Stickling says. Nussbaum’s drivers can name an event as an on-duty “yard move” or an off-duty “personal conveyance,” when appropriate, as the wheels start to turn. But failing that, the time will be recorded on the drive line where it cannot be effectively deleted, only reclassified or reassigned. “You can only annotate it,” he says. That creates work for both the back office and the operators on the front lines. For the InterChange Express 50-truck fleet, the 5-mph speed threshold for ELDs has been the greatest challenge. Drivers have to be trained to record yard moves properly, says InterChange operations manager David Bosserman. “Drivers hear stories from other drivers that they can drive 30 mph without tripping the on-duty status,” he says, which is no longer the case under the ELD specification. Stickling generally views ELDs’ greater precision in logging activities at customer locations as “a good thing” because its puts pressure on the shipper to avoid interrupting the driver’s off-duty period. Say a driver arrives at a customer location in the evening, planning a 10-hour break prior to an 8 a.m. delivery appointment. When Nussbaum used AOBRDs, the driver might be asked to dock the trailer well before 8. But under the ELD specification, “if the truck moves at 6 a.m., there is no hiding it,” Stickling says. Nussbaum has trained drivers to explain their hours situation upon arrival at a customer. “That has helped the driver-abuse side,” he says. “We are seeing less times where a shipper knocks on a driver’s door at 2 a.m. and says ‘move this trailer for me’ when a driver is only six hours into his break.” For Bosserman and Interchange Express, another challenge is managing carrier personnel and drivers’ confusion over what they’re hearing from law enforcement officers. “It seems that every state is operating on different systems,” Bosserman says. “Some want drivers to email their logs, others want to get in the cab to look at the screen. Some have a secure code they give drivers.” InterChange Express has printers in the truck for drivers to print out logs, but one officer in Wyoming told a driver that printed logs did not count. “I think as more people switch over to ELDs, that process will become easier,” he says, with some degree of roadside standardization that just hasn’t been the case with AOBRDs.
Electronic Logging Devices
Goodbye, AOBRD: ELDs’ final shift
90 days out from the ELD mandate’s final Dec. 17 deadline, many fleets and one-truck owner-operators with authority are delaying the transition from AOBRD-spec technology. ELD providers are hopeful for new customers among the small percentages of truckers switching providers during the transition.
September 17, 2019
Unlike an AOBRD, an ELD is required to automatically record nondriving activities above 5 mph (yard moves, for instance) on the drive line unless they’re specified otherwise. That and other previews from carriers that have made the transition are explained in this September series, which includes a guide to ELDs downloadable via this link for operators facing the deadline or others looking to change providers.
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CSA's Data Trail
Live Q&A: Exploring hurdles and criticisms of DOT's DataQs
Join Overdrive, CVSA, and Payne Trucking here on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific for a live discussion and Q&A about DOT's DataQs crash/inspection info correction system, problems posed, and the reform landscape.
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Having a DataQs review panel for appeals that includes one or more trucking representatives “would definitely make a difference” in the system’s overall fairness, said Danny Schnautz, a vice president with Clark Freight Lines.
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Mounting efforts to improve DataQs appeals fairness
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