Four Pillars of Success for E-Logs 23 January 2015 Posted in News

Rather than wait for the federal mandate on Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), many fleets are getting ahead of the wave by implementing e-logging systems today.  After a fleet has made the important decision to move forward with the technology, the next question of “how” to implement it is critical to a smooth implementation.

Converting to ELDs impacts everyone in the organization, especially drivers.  Starting the project off right is critical for success.  From our experience working with carriers to implement electronic logs, we have identified these four practices to make the transition move as smoothly and quickly as possible.

1.  Make it known that ELDs will be part of the company’s culture.  Some technologies work quietly behind the scenes, but not ELDs.  They impact the decisions that drivers and fleet managers make every day, perhaps every hour of the day.

2.  Identify and cultivate a group of drivers to be champions.  The biggest obstacle for implementing ELDs is the preconceived notion that the technology will make peoples’ jobs more difficult.  To disprove this myth, ask a few drivers who are already well-versed in hours-of-service rules to use ELDs on a voluntary basis.  Better yet, ask some of the “complainers” to volunteer.

More often than not, these drivers will become the champions for the technology.  Encourage them to share their experiences.  The influence they will have on other drivers will be immediate.  Soon, other drivers will adopt ELDs voluntarily.

All drivers will soon be using the technology whether they like it or not.  But people are more receptive to change when given a chance to take a leadership role in an important project.

3.  Be positive and reinforcing when dealing with errors and corrections.  CarrierWeb’s Hours-of-Service application is very intuitive for drivers to use, but there ay be times when a driver will make a mistake while getting acquainted with the technology.  A driver might trigger a violation for coming on duty a few minutes early, for example.  It may take some time for drivers to adapt to the precision of using electronic logs.

4.  Make sure that operations is supportive of the program.  In many cases, ELDs are a bigger adjustment for operations than drivers since they force load planners and dispatchers to be very involved in the details of driver schedules.  Operations are just as responsible for violations as drivers, if not more, since they too have real-time visibility to drivers’ hours.

Compared to many other fleet management technologies, ELDs are simple to use.  Very little training may be required to use the actual application, but the bigger challenge will be getting people to adapt to new habits.  In this sense, the technology will only get more difficult the longer you wait.  No one wants to add another layer of stress from trying to meet a government-imposed deadline.