What is the ELD mandate?
On December 18th 2017 the FMCSA will impose the ELD mandate. The Electronic Logging Device is a department of transportation certified electronic hardware that connects the vehicle engine to record driving hours. Below describes the most important details of the new regulation. If your company is found to be not in compliance with the laws the FMCSA may levy fines.
- The regulation requires truckers to install digital devices known as ELDS in their trucks to track the number of hours they spend behind the wheel.
- The rule was enacted to ensure that all truckers comply with a federal hours-of-service rule. The rule limits driving to no more than 11 hours a day within a 14-hour workday. Drivers must then be off duty for 10 consecutive hours.
Why ELD mandate?
The ELD mandate was proposed to reduce the number of fatal crashes involving tractor trailers on the road. In a 2017 survey from the Fleet Owner Journal Constitution, results stated 12% of all fatal crashes that occurred on the highway involved a tractor trailer. In 30% of the cases the cause of the crash was the truck driver did not get enough sleep or was on the road over the recommended hours of service. The new ELD mandate aims to reduce fatal crashes by electronically recording the number of active hours of service a driver performs.
Shippers: Need to Know!
Tightened capacity will be a common concern of many shippers which in turned will lead to rate increases. Below will describe a few things shippers can do proactively to help prepare their business for change and minimize the impact of the ELD mandate to their business
Review Lanes: With this new mandate effective shippers should review all lanes that fall between 500 to 800 miles. Line hauls where carriers previously delivered in one day with paper logs may no longer be deemed to be in compliance after the new ELD mandate takes effect. Those lanes may become two days transit time with in turn increases rates. Many drivers believe the ELD mandate will limit flexibility in transit time and force carriers to negotiate higher load prices.
Dock Times: Keep dock deliveries moving in an efficient manner. Make sure the loads are ready when the truck arrives and load and unload the truck in an efficient manner. This will speed up the turnaround time on when the truck driver needs to get the product to its destination.
Schedule Accordingly: Plan ahead and be flexible in your scheduling of loads. With the new 11 hour per day rule a typical lane that may have taken one day may extend to two days. Ship a day early if possible.
Use a reliable 3PL: At Insure Logistics we make it a priority to move your LTL expedited and hot shot freight in an efficient manner. All of or carriers are currently ELD compliant so there will be no capacity crunch when utilizing us. Please remember the mandate is effective December 18th 2017. Please reach out to us if you have any questions.
