{"id":2234,"date":"2020-01-17T21:32:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T21:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quicktransportsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=2234"},"modified":"2020-01-17T21:32:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T21:32:45","slug":"are-you-properly-managing-truck-driver-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quicktransportsolutions.com\/blog\/are-you-properly-managing-truck-driver-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Properly Managing Truck Driver Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tracking vehicle hours is important for assessing organizational efficiency. And vehicle tracking is one of the most popular features of telematics solutions. While this is definitely one of the main go-tos, there is much more you can do with the technology. Fleet managers now look to telematics to improve maintenance and servicing, fuel economy, asset utilization, driver behavior, accident rates, fuel economy and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An often-overlooked feature of telematics is its ability to\naccurately track driving hours. As our readers know, in the United States, the\nFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented the Hours of\nService (HOS) regulation. This regulation limits the number of daily and weekly\nhours that can be spent driving and working and regulates the amount of time\ndrivers must spend resting between driving shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Brief Look Back<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the HOS regulation is to prevent accidents\ncaused by fatigue, and help drivers maintain a natural sleep\/wake cycle. The\nNational Safety Council (NSC) has gathered research that shows people are three times more\nlikely<\/a> to be in a car crash if they are fatigued, and that being awake for\nmore than 20 hours at a time is the equivalent of being legally drunk.\nEnforcing a limit on the number of hours drivers are on the road greatly\nreduces the chance of them having an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is vital for fleets to ensure that their drivers are compliant\nwith this regulation and provide them the means to do so. Not only does failure\nto keep track of and report hours prevent your drivers from being well-rested\nand safe, but non-compliance can lead to expensive and unnecessary fines for\nyour company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, paper logbooks were used to track driving\nhours. Paper logbooks have recently become unpopular as they can be easily\nmanipulated, are subject to human error, make information difficult to find,\nand are not easily adaptable among other reasons. Other ways of tracking\ndriving hours come in the form Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) or telematics\nsolutions with ELD capabilities. ELDs are devices that capture driving hours by\nlooking at whether the vehicle is moving, how many miles have been driven and\nthe duration of engine operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELDs are often seen as a great option for small-to-medium\nfleets. However, now there are so many affordable telematics solutions\navailable that track driving hours just like an ELD does while providing a\nvariety of efficiency, safety and compliance-related features. Both a\nfull-featured telematics solution and ELDs are useful as they automate\nfunctions (saving both time and money), have less chance of being tampered with\nby drivers, and are more accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how you choose to track your driving hours, there\nare many benefits (aside from compliance) to doing so. Let\u2019s look at some of\nthese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solving Overtime Woes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Frost & Sullivan, overtime is reduced by 10 to 15%<\/a> after a fleet management solution has been successfully deployed. By monitoring automated time logs and allocating resources based on real-time insights, overtime can be significantly reduced. For example, if a customer requires a last-minute service or a package delivery late in the day, then the fleet manager can send over the nearest driver. This is based on the driver\u2019s current location (in relation to the task\u2019s location) as well as the amount of hours they\u2019ve already logged. This method prevents calling on a driver that is too far away or too close to going over their maximum allotted hours for the time period. This way drivers are less likely to incur overtime hours, be late to a client or waste unnecessary fuel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Should a driver need to log a claim for overtime, this can\nbe checked against the captured driving hours and the driver\u2019s location at the\ntime of the claim. This prevents false claims from being logged and increasing\nyour costs unnecessarily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better Customer Billing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you offer a service to customers where you bill them\nhourly or even by the minute, then ensuring you provide accurate billing every\ntime is essential. Billing customers fairly, based on accurate information,\nhelps keep them satisfied and builds the type of trust that is necessary for\nlong-term relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, retaining customers is much more cost-effective\nthan acquiring new ones! Having a telematics solution that keeps track of\ndriving hours automatically helps you easily figure out exactly how long a\ndriver was with a customer and provide billing accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of system makes the process of billing quicker,\nsaving your company time and potentially getting you your money faster. This\nprocess also reduces the need for additional staff to process billing. With the\npotential for errors in billing now reduced, there is less chance of revenue\nleakage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You save costs and can use those savings to provide an even\nbetter service to your customers. Should customers question your billing, you can\nshow them a breakdown of costs in black and white, which can result in fewer\ndisputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving Payroll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt about it \u2013 timesheet fraud is a reality.\nTimesheet fraud takes place when drivers get paid for work they never did or\nfor time spent on activities not related to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a variety of ways this can occur: <\/p>\n\n\n\n