ELECTRONIC LOGGING DEVICES

ELECTRONIC LOGGING DEVICES AND AUTOMATIC ON-BOARD RECORDING DEVICES:

EFFECTS ON SMALL TRUCK-LOAD CARRIERS

Abstract

Electronic Logging device (ELD) rule was passed by the US government on December 16 2015 and it became mandatory that every vehicle with a gross weight more than 10001 pounds be equipped with an ELD device, approved by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) by December 18 2017. FMCSA published the rule in 2015 and gave small truck load carriers as well as truck load carriers with vehicles up to 80000 pounds (semi-trucks) two years to equip their fleets with ELD’s. To comply with the new law, fleets would have to equip their trucks with ELD’s that can cost around 1000 dollars per unit and have a monthly re-occurring fee of up to 50 dollars. Throughout primary and secondary research combined with my ten-year experience in trucking business I will demonstrate that this rule will have a great impact on small trucking companies both negative and positive. Some of the negative impacts that this Law will have: parking on the shoulder of the freeway more frequently which can be very dangerous (if drivers run out of hours they must park where they are, sometimes on the side of the road), decreased in drive hours (bad weather, shipper delays), will result in less drive time, drivers feel like they are being micromanaged because on electronic logs the company can see everything that is going on with the truck and driver in almost real time. Some of the positive impacts we are hoping for (we are hoping because this is all projected), better fuel consumption (having an electronic device in the cab of the truck will provide up to date information about idle time, engine over rev etc.), another very important positive impact might be safety improvements but at this point is only projected.

ELECTRONIC LOGGING DEVICES AND AUTOMATIC ON-BOARD RECORDING DEVICES:

EFFECTS ON SMALL TRUCK-LOAD CARRIERS

Introduction

            Obama administration passed the ELD rule in 2015, due to take full effect in December 18^th 2017. This law was passed in order to improve the safety of the trucks on the road. Basically, the law makers want a device in the truck that will keep track of everything the truck does: loading, unloading, driving and on duty (truck inspections). Electronic logging devices are able to accomplish all the requirements and then some: they keep track of idle time, speeding events, built in Navigation and critical events monitoring (hard braking) they can also be equipped with a camera in order to record everything that is going on the road. The concept behind this law is very straight forward, lets have a device in the truck that keeps track of everything that is happening with the truck and the driver and since the driver must obey all rules including driving less then 11 hours a day which is the main reason the law passed. According to (Williamson & Friswell, 2013)in Accident Analysis and Prevention fatigue happens because trucks wait too much at pick up location, but the primary reason the research found to be the reason for fatigue in truck drivers is personally loading and unloading of the trucks by the drivers not necessarily driving over 11 hours. This research is in dissimilarity with Law maker’s main reason the law passed and that is to enforce driving less than 11 hours a day. If the main reasons the drivers are fatigued is because they assist in loading and unloading the trailers, why would they pass a law that doesn’t allow them to drive more then 11 hours and blame fatigue for it?

Methods

I will have two primary sources that I will use for my investigative essay that will help us understand the deeper implications that this rule has on small businesses and how we might have a few select very big truck load carriers in the future. First primary source will be XXX CEO of XXX he has more than 20 years’ experience in the trucking industry and was able to build from ground up one of Michigan’s finest trucking companies. Mr. XXX has experience in Less than truck load, Truck Load and Expedite shipping for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler as well as a degree with concentration in Logistics and Transportation Law. My second primary source will be XXX President of XXX a truck load carrier based in Warren MI specialized in oversized shipments. Mr. XXX has been in the industry for more than 22 years and leading XXX since 2007, he has expertise in specialized equipment; flat bed, curtain sides or double drop trailers as well as over dimensional and overweight shipments. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business and he is part of the Michigan Trucking Association. Questions I am looking to ask both of my sources: How did the new ELD law affect your employees? How did the new law affect the financials of your business? Do you see a big improvement on fuel consumption? I will also use one secondary source from Oakland Universities’ library, the second source will be scholarly and peer reviewed and will reinforce my idea that the new law will have a significant impact on small trucking companies.

Results

            Overall my sources will create an informal investigative essay and will back up my analyses of the effects in the trucking industry as we know it. Some of these effects will be positive and some of them negative, companies might go bankrupt because of the extra economic costs involved and some companies might become more productive and safer than ever.

Discussion

(What might the answer imply and why does it matter? How does it fit in with what other researchers have found? What are the perspectives for future research?)

References

Williamson, A., & Friswell, R. (2013). Accident Analysis & Prevention. Elsevier, 58, 26-34. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from https://www.journals.elsevier.com/accident-analysis-and-prevention