Heavy Duty Trucking, February 2018

HDT FEBRUARY 2018 8 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM refuse to ever put a devils machine in my truck Thats what a three truck fleet owner told me when he called to talk about mandatory electronic logging devices and it wasnt just a figure of speech He said ELDs along with computers and the Internet will be Satans tool to control us all after the Rapture The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration he said is being controlled by the Prince of Darkness himself Im withholding his name but my caller said hes been driving for some 50 years and millions of miles and has a totally clean record no tickets no accidents He also said God is his co pilot and perhaps he is if this driver regularly drove coast to coast in 37 hours as he claimed As you might guess he said he will not put an ELD in his truck I wonder how long that clean record will last As I write this its been just over a month since the FMCSA started requiring most interstate commercial truck drivers to start using ELDs to track compliance with federal hours of service rules The reactions to the long delayed long debated long contested ELD mandate that took partial effect in December have been all over the map from this extreme example on one end to FMCSAs new deputy administrator saying that a great deal of work with our enforcement partners went into ensuring that the rollout of the ELD rule was a success The reality as usual is somewhere in the middle Of course with any big regulatory change like this there are going to be hiccups to say the least You can read about a few of them in our Safety Compliance department this month For instance theres a fair amount of confusion among drivers and enforcement personnel about the difference between the mandatory ELDs and the previous FMCSA spec for voluntary e logs automatic onboard recorders AOBRDs which some fleets are still using during a two year grandfathered period Plus problems and misunderstandings with the electronic transfer of the logbook data Weve also seen a lot of anecdotal reports of increased problems with truck parking which many critics predicted A number of fleets and specialty trucking interest groups have filed for and received various exemptions and delays Owner operators who are refusing to put ELDs in their trucks are traveling back roads to avoid scales and inspections A lot of this will work itself out although it doesnt make it necessarily less painful in the meantime The bigger question is whether the rule truly will save lives Its no secret that even the safest truckers have told white lies on their paper logbooks that would allow them to for instance reach a safe parking spot at night when delays at a shipper or receiver put them behind schedule Several truckers and fleets told me theyre now driving faster to make up for that time lost which is a safety concern In fact ELD provider KeepTruckin found through analyzing ELD data and conducting surveys that 75 of drivers are detained at a pickup or drop off location for at least two hours every week and that they drive 35 mph faster after such extended detention events Thats why KeepTruckin petitioned FMCSA asking for a two hour exemption for long haul drivers delayed at a shipper In short the real question lies with the hours of service rules themselves How effective are they really at preventing fatigue Well explore that question in a feature Equipment Editor Jim Park a former driver himself is working on for the March issue My hope and belief is that ELD data will help answer that question Because where the devil really lies as they say is in the details The ELD mandates unanswered question Deborah Lockridge Editor in Chief dlockridge@ truckinginfo com With 28 years covering the trucking industry Deborah Lockridge is known for her award winning in depth features on diverse issues She can be reached at 205 989 6467 or dlockridge@ truckinginfo com EDITORIAL The reactions to the long delayed long debated long contested ELD mandate that took partial effect in December have been all over the map I