Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/466315
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2015 65 TECHNOLOGY: ELECTRONIC LOGGING DEVICES rule came in July 2013 – only to have a portion of that rule, the 34-hour reset provision, suspended in December. The next changes will be more tech- nical in nature. As part of the new ELD rule, devices will have to transmit duty status information outside the truck to an application currently under devel- opment for law enforcement to use to verify compliance. FMCSA has not specified what transfer method will be used, says Elise Chianelli, PeopleNet's senior product manager of safety and compliance. Most likely, ELD devices will use cellular or satellite connectivity to transmit a packet of duty status information to law enforcement for instant review. The new ELD rule also will put great- er responsibility on drivers to certify log accuracy. Drivers can accept or reject any logbook corrections made by fleet managers and edit certain portions of their logbooks, such as the time they switched from off-duty to on-duty status. They also will be able to specify when they used a vehicle for person- al conveyance, yard moves and other instances where the ELD detected "miles without hours," Chianelli says. ELDs presently must be connected to the vehicle's engine data to be compli- ant. They are not designed to capture changes to duty status unless those changes are related to engine informa- tion. In light of these and other chang- es, the type of ELD platform – mobile, hard-mounted or a combination of the two – is important considering that the information needs to come from both the vehicle and the driver. Suppose a driver works for another compa- ny after hours or on weekends. How would a fleet handle that on-duty time to ensure its operations remain compliant? "There are a lot of open questions around duty time," Chianelli says. Here's where mobile platforms might have an advantage: A driver using a smartphone or tablet can update his logs while outside the vehicle. "When you've got a smartphone de- vice, it is easy for a driver to log his time when working for another provider," says Kelly Frey, Telogis' vice president of products. "That is an opportunity to be more compliant and easier for the driver to stay compliant." Mobile platforms for ELDs come in three general varieties: Computer-assisted logging. Drivers can download apps to personal Apple or Android devices. BigRoad, KeepTruckin and others offer apps for free. Fleets subscribe to these services to access and manage driver logs from an online portal. Telematics devices. A low-cost recording device stays connected to the vehicle and communicates with mobile Zonar uses an Android-powered onboard tab- let for hours of service and an application for pre- and post-trip inspections. J.J. Keller and Associates and Verizon are developing an integrated fleet compliance and telematics system for all vehicle classes. Making the data available in real time increasingly will become more important to enable fleets and drivers to make better and faster operational decisions. – Eric Witty, Cadec Global's vice president of product management