Figured I give some back story to the eld stuff..
ELD , electronic logging device, has been around for better part of 10 years, originally is was for carrier's that could not operate safely with paper logs.
Carrier's are monitored, by road side inspection, (which is illegal rabbit trail).
So mega fleets like, US Xpress, SWIFT, Werner, CRST, knight, roel, JB hunt, Prime couldn't operate safely, to the point they regular insurance companies wouldn't cover them, so they went self insured, so now they are self insured they can train people to get CDLs..
Side note..
All places have new or limited experience cld drivers ride with trainers... Usually with multiple years of safe driving under their belt..
Most states required 300+ hours of behind the wheel experience/training plus 50-100 hours of class room training before you're allowed to even attempted a skills test, then most companies require 300-400 hours be hind the wheel with a company trainer before being turned loose in a truck on their own.. sounds fairly reasonable common sense, when you're talking truck trailer cost around 250k plus cargo which could be in the millions...
What are they mega fleets doing..
Taking a guy that is completely green, 4-6 weeks he has a class A CDL, his trainer, usually has less than 1 year experience.. and being turned loose on the roads...
So the mega fleets talking 1000 plus power units or more. Which makes up of about 30% of the carriers. still couldn't operate safely, the fmcsa/dot came in an said either shut down or go on ELDs.. so they went ELD, revenue per truck dropped, roughly 30%, they realize the can't compete with the small fleets that where on paper, so they got the ATA(Americans truckers association)and the teamsters to lobby Congress for map -21 in 2015.
They mega fleets figured they can't beat us we'll use the government to kill the small guys,
Fmcsa/Dot release crash reports, for commercial vehicles weighing 10000lb or more.. CMVs with ELDs are 5x more likely to cause a wreck than with non ELDs..
Yet you look at the propaganda pushed by the government ELD are safer and they'll save lives...
Swift has killed 200+ people so far this year.. they are 100% ELD company been that way for a long time.
This takes affect come Monday 12/18/17. Current regs states any vehicle chassis that is 2000 or newer or has a 2000 or newer Engine in is required to have ELDs to haul frieght. Anything older is exempt and can run paper.
Alot of companies don't like mega fleets, mainy because the product usually gets damage if it shows up.
That's how the company I'm leased to makes majority of our money..
Fall out From this?
Obviously it won't be over night, government has already said we're not ready to enforce it, and said we're not shutting anyone down for not being in compliance till April..
Productivity per truck will drop, rates will most likely go up, which will drive the price on the shelf up, as any small business person knows operating cost is passed on to the end user..
Example of how eld works
You have a 14h clock..a 11hour clock and a rolling 70h clock over 8 day.
14h clock starts when you get in your vehicle and Doesn't stop until 14h is up or you get out of your vehicle for at least 10h
11h clock starts when you vehicle moves and stops when is stops.
Your 70h clock starts when you first get in your vehicle
You cannot work past 14H or do more than 11h or work inside that 14h window
The rolling 70h is over 8 day time frame. If you use that up in 5 days you are required to shut down for 34 hours
So a 9-7 job, you have 1.5 hour one way trip to work.. plus a 10h work day, all good an fine until bad weather, traffic, work runs late, relief is late, etc once you go over 14h you're in violation, fines, points and if caught over 14h by a cop you can move your vehicle or do any work for 10h not matter where you're are, including side of the road
I'm fine with voluntary implementation, or I screw up enough often enough that I need it... This is mandatory..
And insurance is saying we won't insure you with out ELD as well.. can't operate without insurance
I really do like being a deputy elf.
