Come this December, most commercial drivers will need to be using electronic logging devices (ELDs). It is anticipated that approximately three million drivers will be impacted. Like any equipment, your ELD selection is going to be determined by application. It’s important to take a look at your fleet’s needs and see how those align with the ELD mandate. If you think of this as an opportunity rather than a legal obligation, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of the latest technology—and the opportunities go beyond compliance.
In a recent Fleet Equipment webinar, Kris McKenna, safety manager at Richard Carrier Trucking, a 70-vehicle fleet based in Maine, and Jim Griffin and Mike Spence of Fleet Advantage dive into the efficiency and operational benefits of an ELD solution that go beyond compliance, including improved fuel economy and increased driver safety and driver retention.
“As you go through the implementation process, you soon find that there is a lot of information available at your fingertips,” said Mike Spence, senior vice president of fleet services with Fleet Advantage. “You will have direct access to the fuel economy of your vehicles. Then you find that there are certain vehicle operating conditions that create better fuel economy. Those are parameters that you can measure, monitor and, in some cases, change.”
Idle time, for example, is chief among them. The time the truck spends in cruise is another.
In terms of the driver behavior impact data from an ELD solution can have, McKenna pointed to Richard Carrier Trucking’s ability to share data collected from its Omnitracs solution and share it with the entire operation, including the drivers.
“We put our company dashboard in our driver room. We share data with our drivers and we find that it increases competitiveness,” McKenna explained. “They always check the board to see who is on top and you get a big morale boost when sharing information with people. It keeps our entire fleet informed of what’s going on.”
How is that competitiveness motivating drivers to adopt more efficient and safer driver habits? And what else can your fleet do with the data from an ELD solution—like improve your maintenance processes and decrease downtime? For the answers, click here to register and watch our on-demand presentation of the webinar, “Three benefits of an ELD solution beyond compliance.”
