The date has come and gone and yet there are still plenty of trucking companies out there that have not yet made the switch from AOBRD to ELD. Well, let this be the Quick TSI blog\u2019s last primer on what you need to do to make the switch and why it matters. After this, it is up to you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A deadline is only as flexible as its breaking point. Among\nthe least flexible are compliance dates for government regulations. And when\nyou have a fixed date for a final rule that no one in a federal agency or in\nCongress has the desire to slacken even a tad at the 11th hour, you have a\ndeadline so tight that violating it will snap back at you very quickly and\ncould result in fines or other actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Look at the Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As of December 17 of last year, amidst the freight-happy\nholiday shopping season, every carrier operating in the U.S. that is not exempt\nfrom keeping truck driver logs must have a functioning ELD onboard its trucks,\nper the final rule issued in late 2017 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety\nAdministration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And although some trucking companies interpreted it as such,\nthe agency\u2019s intention to ease the changeover burden with the two-year\ngrandfathering was most certainly not to encourage waiting until the last\nminute to comply. On the other hand, one\u2019s definition of \u201clast minute\u201d can vary\nwidely by such factors as general ignorance, risk tolerance, over confidence,\nand fear of change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent survey conducted in 2018 found that one in three\nfleets were not yet ELD-compliant. When the survey was repeated in the spring\nof 2019, that number was down to one in eight. Now, some unofficial surveys\npoint to around 15% of trucking companies left who have not adopted an ELD\npolicy or made the switch from an AOBRD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that the larger fleets \u2014 500-plus vehicles \u2014 are\nfor the most part done. It is primarily the smaller fleets that haven\u2019t yet\ncomplied. A lot of them struggle with whether to go with a bare-bones,\ncompliance-only tool or something full-featured that requires a larger upfront\ninvestment but has the potential to pay for itself over time. The most\nimportant thing is to have a plan. The main reason being that some AOBRDs are\nELD-ready \u2014 but there are others that are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waiting even longer to make the transition could potentially\nresult in a lack of driver training\/acceptance and reporting glitches as well\nas last-minute capital expenditures if required to upgrade devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, for many fleets the delayed transition could simply\nbe the result of confusion about the underlying technology, where fleets may\nhave questions about what the transition requires them to do, like fully\ntransition all hardware in a fleet versus only a few vehicles. This is\nespecially true for smaller fleets that might be working with a decreased revenue\nstream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other Important Considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trucking companies should have already finalized their implementation and transition plan. Fleets need three to four months to get fully implemented and more importantly, to get your truck drivers trained. Ample time is especially critical for larger carriers that have multiple terminals. There really is no reason why large carriers with more resources are not already switched over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [wp_ad_camp_2] <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Smaller carriers may experience issues if they choose to\nwait even longer. It\u2019s a big change, and ELD providers are already dealing with\na high level of support from client carriers. When the mandate started in 2017,\nthe technical support departments at ELD vendors inadvertently became many\nmotor carriers\u2019 ELD training departments, meaning call wait times were longer\nthan expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also the sunset of the 3G mobile network cell band\nto consider, which is expected to be done by 2022, according to AT&T. That\nwill affect the use of some older [electronic log] units by this summer. In\nother words, if you are not careful, you could end up transitioning to ELDs\ntwice in relatively short order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there will be a lot of training to do. Who\u2019s going to be\naffected with training? It is going to be everyone at the company. And if you\nare a small carrier, everybody wears multiple hats, and you may have to have\ndifferent disciplines and understandings of ELD and how that affects different\npeople. But no matter what size you are, everybody needs to have participation\nin this migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truck driver buy-in is a big pain point and it\u2019s something\nthat fleets should start on well in advance of the transition. It\u2019s important\nfor drivers to understand that ELDs are primarily for their own safety \u2014 for\ntracking hours of service so that overworked and exhausted drivers aren\u2019t on\nthe road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You Have Options<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One way to comply with the electronic logging device mandate\nis to issue drivers a connected tablet uploaded with software to provide ELD\nfunctions along with GPS navigation and other features. For example, Samsung\noffers an ELD bundle that combines its Galaxy Tab Active 2, Tab A or Tab E\ntablets, which includes its built-in \u201cdefense-grade\u201d Knox security platform and\nchoice of 4G LTE or wi-fi connectivity; and Omnitracs XRS Relay software\nlicense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, portable devices must be mounted in the cab while\nthe vehicle is in use. The ELD regulation notes that a portable ELD must be\nmounted in a fixed position during vehicle operation and visible to the driver\nfrom a normal seated driving position. That\u2019s why the Samsung ELD bundle also\nincludes a Ram Mounts IntelliSkin tablet case and vehicle dock, both of which\ndeploy that firm\u2019s GDS technology, and a step-down converter charger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ram\u2019s GDS platform provides protection, charging, and\ndata-sync compatibility across a range of phones and tablets. Mounting is done\nthrough various methods, including a ball-and-socket system with a high degree\nof adjustability and vibration dampening. Other options include drill-down,\nadhesive, suction-cup and Ram No-Drill bases for securing the mounting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another company called GPS Lockbox, says that along with its\noriginal Flex cradle, which features a \u201cquick-docking\u201d locking mechanism and a\nmagnetic charging system, GPS Lockbox has developed its Atmos cradle to handle\nthe high temperature variances trucks can encountering operating across the\nU.S. Both the Flex and Atmos cradles work with the firm\u2019s Flex tablet-mounting\nsystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the company, Atmos was the first\ntemperature-regulation system designed for vehicle-mounted tablets. They say it\nis engineered, not only to prevent tablets from overcooling in cold\ntemperatures, but it is also capable of restoring an overheated tablet eight\ntimes faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Support Your Support Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important that the administrative staff knows how to\nproperly set up driver accounts with necessary information, such as names and\nDOT numbers. Discuss potential ELD malfunctions that might occur and ensure\nyour back-office team knows what to do when malfunctions are reported by\ndrivers. You should also train staff on how to maintain supporting documents\nand records in the event of an FMSCA audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspectors can collect supporting documents to verify the\naccuracy of driver RODs and HOS rules compliance. Per the FMCSA guidelines,\nmotor carriers must retain a maximum of eight supporting documents for every\n24-hour period a driver is on duty. Motor carriers must also retain RODS and\nsupporting documents for six months as well as a backup copy of the data on a\nseparate device. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Insufficient training of a motor carrier\u2019s back office is an\neven greater risk than insufficient training of truck drivers. This is mainly\ndue to daily processing of unassigned drive time, editing process changes,\nmalfunction reporting and logging changes, and generally not being able to help\nthe drivers if the back office isn\u2019t comfortable with the differences between\nAOBRD and ELD systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If shop technicians have not had time to be trained, there\nis also the risk of ELDs remaining in malfunctioning status. Mechanics will need\nto have troubleshooting knowledge that is above the complexity of AOBRDs, with\nadditional malfunction codes and potential issues with \u2018flashed\u2019 or reset\nelectronic control module parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With AOBRDs, recorded events can be changed or edited by back-office staff or drivers, but with ELDs, logged events can\u2019t be adjusted, and drivers have the final say. However, in some cases, truck drivers and managers can leave annotations or notes instead of editing logs to mark things such as technical difficulties or mistakes in logging. These are all processes that should be fleshed out in established policy and shared with the entire team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [wp_ad_camp_2] <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is this: The deadline has passed. We are now\nlooking at six months out from the final, final ELD date. Might this be the\nlast time we provide options and warnings for trucking companies who have not\nyet made the switch? Perhaps. Because in 2021 the ELD will be turning into old\nnews and it is expected that any trucking company have it as part of their\nstandard operating plan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"