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ELDs: Should You Go Beyond Basic Compliance?

How electronic logging devices help fleets drive improvement across every facet of business

“I do believe companies without ELDs will be eliminated from the market due to regulatory or risk management reasons.”

ElectronicLoggingDevices

If you’re an electronic logging device (ELD) skeptic, you might think, “Of course an ELD manufacturer would make that claim.” But, we didn’t. And, neither did one of those mega carriers that are often early adopters of transportation technologies. Rather, it was Todd Davis, president of the mid-sized, family-owned regional carrier, Davis Transfer, Inc.

As trucking companies across the country roll out ELDs and related technologies in increasing numbers, their eyes are opening to the opportunities that make them more competitive—and more profitable.

What are these opportunities, exactly? And, how can carriers use ELDs to drive business improvement?

In October 2015, Omnitracs participated in a webinar where Wendy Leavitt of FleetOwner magazine moderated a discussion of ELDs with two experienced leaders of regional trucking companies. Todd Davis is president of Davis Transfer, Inc., a truckload operation consisting of 250 tractors and 800 trailers. Luke Olin is director of transportation for Upper Lakes Foods, Inc., a regional last-mile food distribution carrier running 48 trucks, many of which are leased, and 56 trailers.

Both carriers have successfully implemented ELDs, as well as other technologies, including routing software, on-board cameras, and electronic driver vehicle inspection reports.

We’ll explore how each of these carriers improved the safety, productivity, and profitability of their fleets, but first — what drove them to adopt ELDs in advance of the mandate?

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Making the Move to Data-Driven Decision-Making Like many carriers, Davis Transfer implemented electronic logs in response to a series of paper logbook errors.

Following several accidents in 2008 and 2009, the Davis Transfer team performed a self-audit and breathed a sigh of relief — everything looked solid. Then they compared their log books to their GPS data and found the two didn’t always align. Those discrepancies exposed them to liability and they knew they had to do something about it quickly.

“We knew that if we didn’t have a way to map truck locations with driver log books, we had problems,” Davis shared.

So, he decided it was time to bite the bullet. Davis Transfer implemented ELDs, not only resolving their immediate Hours of Service compliance concerns, but providing valuable insights that increased the safety and efficiency of their fleet, as well.

What was the driver for Upper Lakes Foods?

They were looking for complete visibility of their fleet with increased efficiency and improved customer service in mind. And, they’ve been successful on both of those fronts. With powerful features and real-time information at their fingertips, Upper Lakes Foods can manipulate their vast wealth of data to uncover the deep insights that give them a competitive edge.

“That creates a very valuable tool for us,” said Olin.

Upper Lakes Foods was so pleased with their ELD implementation, in fact, that they expanded their suite of transportation technologies to include routing software and onboard cameras, as well.

In the end, both Davis Transfer and Upper Lakes Foods scored big wins with their technology implementations. How so?

Let’s take a closer look.

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Wrangling Safety and Compliance Issues Once and For All The benefits of electronic logging devices go far beyond compliance with the coming ELD mandate.

Yes, they help eliminate human error, but they also provide fleet and safety managers with the means to take proactive action.

During our panel discussion, Olin spoke of the tremendous value he gains from automated alerts and reports. Sent directly to his mobile device or email inbox, he’s immediately notified of Hours of Service violations, sensor failures on his trucks, and vehicle collisions.

“If our truck’s been in an accident, I may know before a phone call has even been made to law enforcement,” said Olin.

These are just a few examples of how automation like this allows managers to protect their drivers and their businesses.

Let’s dig a little deeper into driver safety and satisfaction.

Improving CSA Scores

As concerns of accident liability grow, shippers are increasingly performing their due diligence when they contract with carriers. And, that means improving and protecting CSA scores is no longer just about avoiding fines — it’s about remaining competitive in the industry.

With five of your seven scores currently visible to the public, it pays to be proactive.

Thanks to ELD reporting and alerts, “We have a very good safety record, and virtually nonexistent CSA scores,” Olin shared. That provides a strong competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, Davis shared that after ELDs were implemented across their fleet, “Our CSA scores dropped immediately and that was noticed by our customers. They recognized what we were doing to improve safety at our company.”

And, let’s face it — word gets around. Carriers who have consistently demonstrated compliance with Hours of Service rules are far less likely to be waved in for a field audit.

“The guys that are working the scales or are out there doing field audits — they know the companies that they’re having problems with. After they’ve seen so many of our electronic logs, they have a pretty good perception that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” said Davis, who notes that his fleet is audited far less often now.

That’s because the adoption of ELDs helped Davis Transfer eliminate both falsification of logs and form and manner errors, dramatically reducing their HOS violations overall.

Olin reported the same, stating, “There’s no ability to manipulate logs now. You can’t cheat by five minutes to make sure you get back to the terminal. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore.”

Another big benefit of ELDs? Exception reporting.

“We just look at the violations now, rather than having to go through each log. If we’ve got any 11- or 14-hour violations, that information goes directly to our safety department. After warnings, if we have multiple problems, then we start talking to the driver manager and we bring the driver in,” Olin said.

“Really, it allows us to go right to the drivers that are at the root of the problem without auditing every log.”

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Wrangling Safety and Compliance Issues Once and For All, continued

Reducing Accident LiabilityOf course, no matter how rested, well-trained, and violation-free your drivers — accidents do happen.

Davis said that’s why Davis Transfer is “doing everything we can to make sure that our driver is legal and above board, that he’s had his rest period, and that it’s documented and verified. We all know going through an accident process is not the time to be wondering how we’re going to prove to the authorities or opposing attorneys that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.

“ELDs give us that documented proof.”

Olin tells us that their onboard camera installations have proven to be helpful in that regard, as well. “Over the past winter, we had a driver slam on the brakes in the middle of a Minnesota winter; there was someone on the center stripe of the highway who turned out to be on drugs. A state trooper ended up arresting the guy, but you can imagine what might have happened had we been in an accident.

“A company like ours? We couldn’t absorb a lawsuit of that size.”

The on-board camera, which carriers are increasingly implementing alongside their ELDs, would have provided Upper Lakes Foods with additional evidence of fault.

Both technologies offer critical insights into collision events, including speed, direction, and GPS location. And, automated alerts allow managers to immediately intervene.

In the event of an accident, there’s no better protection than thorough documentation of your operator’s safe driving behaviors.

Speaking of drivers...

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Improving Driver Safety and Satisfaction Ensuring your drivers are happy, challenged, and heard — there’s perhaps no greater challenge in the trucking industry today.

How are these two carriers doing it?

Davis tells us drivers pushed back when they first announced the coming EOBR rollout.

What did those same drivers think after the devices had been implemented? “I think if you polled a year out or even six months out, they’d tell you they wouldn’t go back to paper,” said Davis.

Davis Transfer saw surprising improvements because everyone across the organization was being held more accountable. In the end, “We saw happier, more rested, and refreshed drivers. We didn’t foresee that outcome.”

Supported by technology, driver managers ensured their drivers were getting their ten-hour rest breaks. And, they were better able to manage driver downtime efficiently, knowing exactly when those time-frames fell. Davis continued, “Driver fatigue is the biggest factor in large vehicle accidents. I truly believe that that’s got to be a sacred ten hours for the driver. I think the ELD helps keep us accountable for that time.”

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Olin shared, “Our drivers can just focus on what they’re doing, driving down the road, delivering down to the customer, knowing that we’re keeping our customer service level high. They don’t have to worry about their logs or anything behind the scenes that might otherwise be taking away from their day.”

Olin continued, telling us they were better able to plan driver routes and work with customers to ensure their drivers’ routes were achievable. “We can take a look at planned versus actual reports to see what was planned out for that driver’s day, when they were supposed to be at a customer’s location, and how long the day might take.” And, what Upper Lakes Foods learns from those reports helps them refine their decisions down the road.

Olin also shared that the technologies Upper Lakes Foods have implemented in the cab have proven to be excellent coaching tools — with new drivers who are short on experience.

“With driver scorecards, I can easily pull metrics on our drivers. It can be related to idle time. It can be related to how many cases they deliver an hour, their drive time, or error percentages. I use that to create a competitive environment for our guy. I want them to really take pride in what they’re doing and see how they stack up to the rest.

“The scorecards are a unique tool.”

Olin considers the onboard cameras on his trucks to be just one more coaching tool. If they notice driver patterns, such as cornering too fast, hard braking, unsafe driving, or distracted driving, they can show them the impact of those behaviors on-screen and use the footage as the basis for an open conversation that invests in the skills of that particular driver.

“We coach behaviors, and we measure the effectiveness of that coaching. Again, we’ve got the data there. We can see that if we’ve coached a driver on specific events, maybe he’s been distracted driving, we can make sure that it hasn’t happened in the past year and really stay on top of that stuff,” said Olin.

ELDs and onboard cameras give managers those kinds of powerful training tools and insight.

Olin continued, “Adapting to a change can be difficult for all of us. But, really, once they’ve seen the benefits, I don’t think any of our drivers would ever want to go back to operating solely with paper logs. It really is a benefit.”

So, what kind of impacts does transportation technology have on driver recruitment and retention?

Davis shared, “I think the driving community has become more aware of electronic logging and other technologies, and it does play into their perception of the company. The safety program is becoming more important to those drivers, because there’s not only protection for the company, but protection for them, as well.”

Improving Driver Safety and Satisfaction, continued

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Improving Customer Working Relationships Of course, working safely and efficiently extends beyond the four walls of a carrier’s home office. Customers have an important role to play, too.

Davis stated that, “Our ability to hold our customers’ feet to the fire and have respect for what we’re trying to do inside the law was a very big deal. We could call a customer and say, ‘You’ve put us on a load that’s impossible to make within legal hours of service, and I can show you what our drivers have done.’

“‘Then it becomes, ‘I’m going to put this on you. You know the data, you know what you’re asking. You can leave me as a customer, I’m certainly not going to run an illegal run, but just remember that if you decide to go to another company, you’re asking someone to do something that’s not legal and that’s going to come back to you.’”

As a result, Davis says, “We saw a lot of customers changing up times, giving us more flexibility — things that we can do to all be safer and legal. That was a huge turning point — to have the data to back it up.

“It’s hard to argue with facts.”

And, ELDs make that data readily available to Davis and his team.

Olin noted that this very same information helps him protect his carrier’s reputation. “We’ll have customers come back to us and say, ‘Boy, it really feels like the last few weeks the truck has been showing up later and later.’ We can run the reports and show right down to the minute when the truck was there. It gives us some ammo in our pockets.”

Of course, delivering superior customer service is what carriers like Davis Transfer and Upper Lakes Foods are all about.

And, increased on-time service has been a big benefit of transportation technologies for Davis. “Our ELDs give me a platform to sit down with our customers and look at what they’re asking us to do. They put more responsibility on our drivers to use hours more wisely, too. It’s a huge positive outcome.”

Olin shares that the real-time visibility of his fleet is a key factor in his bid for new business. Supported by ELDs and routing software, “We can confidently say we can service you at these times of day. We can let you know where the truck is. Customers want to know when they’re getting their product, where the truck is — that’s probably their biggest concern.”

In the end, the data that allows you to run a safer, more compliant fleet while also delivering top-notch customer service, also allows you to increase your rates.

Davis shared that, supported by ELD data, he can approach his customers to show their operating costs, how customer demands impact those costs, and, ultimately, the true cost of safety.

Said Davis, “We’re investing in being a safer partner and I think customers do see that as an additional benefit. Certainly there’s potentially less litigation for them, and that’s the last thing a major company wants is to have their name thrown into some type of litigation. So I think they are choosing to partner with the safest companies.”

And, with strong safety records, those trucking companies can demand higher rates.

What other benefits did these two carriers derive from their ELD implementations?

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Improving Fleet Productivity and Efficiency Remaining profitable becomes more challenging every day — especially in light of evolving Hours of Service regulations. So, how do you keep the wheels turning to cover your truck payments and overhead?

For starters, deep insights into how drivers use their time means everyone across the Davis Transfer group is held more accountable.

Davis says ELDs forced everyone to work harder and more efficiently. “They helped us ensure drivers were getting the miles they needed to stay happy, while also ensuring drivers were using their time efficiently, too.

“We went from a low of 60 or 62 percent efficiency of the full drive time to the mid to high 70s. I’d love to see 80 percent, although in the environment that we work in, which is shorter haul, it’s difficult to drive that efficiency higher,” said Davis.

Where did those improvements come from, exactly?

“Drivers now know that when the clock starts, they’ve got a certain amount of time, and they can’t run over. The way the GPS tracks during their hours of service, we can see when that occurs and we can get exception reporting when drivers run out of route. That was a very positive outcome that came with ELDs,” Davis notes.

Of course, drivers are only part of the equation. ELDs allow managers to hold dispatchers more accountable, as well. And, not only is the technology reducing their workload, they have the data they need to make smarter dispatching decisions.

“They don’t have to go to the safety department to find out where a driver is in his day to be able to plan for his next day or his next load. ELDs give us the information about which load works for a driver and which load won’t — right on our desktops. It also helps with our on-time service for our customers,” said Davis.

With ELDS, they’ve eliminated burdensome check calls, while simultaneously ensuring drivers have everything they need — when they need it.

Said Olin, “Communication with drivers is enhanced; we don’t have to rely on a phone call. We can communicate from the office staff here, whether it’s driver supervisors, myself, safety department, inside sales. We can send electronic messages, and they can be read aloud to the driver, so they don’t even have to access the tablet.”

And, that means a driver with his or her focus where it belongs — on the road.

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Ensuring IFTA Compliance Fuel tax reporting can be a time-consuming headache — and that’s energy that would be better spent on revenue-generating activities.

Olin shared that Upper Lakes Foods no longer rely on paper for IFTA compliance, and are relieved to have eliminated the complexity of managing all of that information.

The ELDs track mileage and document border crossings, so now they’re able to easily run jurisdiction reports. “The reliable information is there. Some folks in our office love the ease of that information; I can pull it at any time,” Olin said.

Simplifying Fleet Maintenance DVIRs are one more way carriers are making life a bit easier for their drivers, while also protecting valuable assets.

How so?

Upper Lakes Foods implemented a mobile ELD solution. That means their drivers can carry their smartphones or tablets with them as they perform their pre- and post-trip inspections, immediately documenting issues as they discover them. Prompts from the device ensure nothing is missed and, as the devices are untethered from the cab, details are captured in the moment, increasing their accuracy.

“The DVIRs are a huge timesaving piece for our drivers. They’re able to note any defects, things that need to be repaired, call attention to items — and it’s all accessible by our garage. They see that, ‘Yes, we’ve got a fog light out on this specific unit.’ Then, the next driver that may pre-trip that equipment will be asked right there on their tablet or phone, ‘Has this been taken care of, yes or no?’”, said Olin.

That kind of automated documentation ensures everyone’s on the same page, increasing maintenance turnaround time, reducing the chances of small problems becoming expensive ones, and ensuring your equipment passes roadside inspections with flying colors.

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Optimizing Routes Efficient routing is a mission critical component of your business — and one that requires software and hardware to get just right.

Upper Lakes Foods uses an routing software integration to further expand the capabilities of its ELDs.

Said Olin, “It’s just too vast of a network to try coming up with efficient routes in your mind. With routing software, we’ve got the ability to suggest routes for unassigned customers or new customers coming on board, and we can immediately see the impact. If we add a customer on a specific route, what’s that going to do to the driver’s service time? Are we going to be able to make that happen?

“We can see where those customers best fit in to make sure we’re offering the best service we can provide.”

Carriers like Upper Lakes Foods are continuously looking to improve the efficiency and flexibility of their routes.

Olin told us, “We add customers on a daily basis. For us, routes may stay somewhat similar week to week, but certain customers may order one week and not the next. Our routes are constantly changing. So for us, that routing software really offers up the best path and drives down the cost to deliver.”

As for the investment?

“The routing software takes care of itself — we’ve gone way past the ROI on that,” said Olin.

Improving Fuel Efficiency After your drivers, fuel is your single greatest expense. So, improving your fuel efficiency and cutting fuel waste can help you achieve some pretty big gains.

How did Davis Transfer and Upper Lakes Foods accomplish that?

For starters, both carriers used idle reporting to drive down the cost of fuel wastage.

“We saw an increase in fuel efficiency because the drivers weren’t idling as much. They weren’t wasting a lot of time,” said Davis.

Olin shared that Upper Lakes Foods employ friendly competition to drive down their fuel costs. “We pull the idle report and see which drivers are out there idling at high percentages. We quantify that for the driver, let them know the cost of idling their truck, and set a goal. We use that to reward our drivers — and it doesn’t have to be anything big. I might order up the guys some sweatshirts if they drive their idle percentage down ten percent — and that pays for itself given the cost of fuel.”

Other inefficient driving behaviors, like speeding and hard braking, can be targeted for improvement in the very same way.

Davis also pointed out that, “An unintended positive outcome is that we’re paying more attention to where our drivers are going out-of-route and reducing out-of-route miles.”

Fewer miles to accomplish the same task? It’s easy to see the benefits of that.

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© 2015 Omnitracs, LLC. All rights reserved. Omnitracs is a trademark of Omnitracs, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Omnitracs endeavors to ensure that the information in this document is correct and fairly stated, but Omnitracs is not liable for any errors or omissions. Published information may not be up to date, and it is important to confirm current status with Omnitracs. (12/15)

Learn how you can use our applications, platforms, and services to reduce costs, increase profitability, and stay competitive. Visit www.omnitracs.com and let us show you how you can save time and money.

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About Omnitracs, LLCOmnitracs, LLC is a global pioneer of fleet management, routing and predictive analytics solutions for private and for-hire fleets. Omnitracs’ nearly 1,000 employees deliver software-as-a-service-based solutions to help more than 50,000 private and for-hire fleet customers manage nearly 1,500,000 mobile assets in more than 70 countries. The company pioneered the use of commercial vehicle telematics over 25 years ago and serves today as a powerhouse of innovative, intuitive technologies. Omnitracs transforms the transportation industry through technology and insight, featuring best-in-class solutions for compliance, safety and security, productivity, telematics and tracking, transportation management (TMS), planning and delivery, data and analytics, and professional services.

Why choose Omnitracs?• Award-winning, 24/7/365 support teams that understand your business.

• ELD Mandate thought leadership — we’ve helped shape the legislation and we share important resources at www.eldfacts.com

• Proven solutions for every stage of your growth — fleets of all sizes, including eight of the ten largest for-hire fleets and the five largest private fleets in North America use Omnitracs.

• Robust integrations — and the technical expertise to maximize your tech stack.

• Intuitive solutions and a focus on the end-user experience — making drivers’ lives easier, building a positive image for your company, and retaining your workforce.

What Can ELDs Do For You? Olin told us that Upper Lakes Foods has seen a range of benefits — from increased driver productivity and Hours of Service compliance to paperwork reductions and insurance premium savings.

“The cost to put some of this stuff in our trucks is paid for in reduction of maintenance, repairs, and insurance premiums. We saw that right away,” said Olin.

Davis agreed. “I know sometimes it’s a challenge to get over the hump, and sometimes it may feel like an impossible feat, but I think the benefits — there’s only upside.”

Davis said that Davis Transfer will continue to implement transportation technologies going forward. “Not only does it have a positive ROI, but we feel like, in this business, keeping our drivers and the rest of the public safe is a duty that we have.”

We couldn’t agree more!