Why You Need To Keep Human Technology Part Of Your ELD Solution

If You Don’t have a Plan, Plan to Fail

It is critical that you spend the time to define your GOALS in order to find the right ELD solution appropriate for your operations, business needs, driver preferences, and budget.

What do you plan on getting out of your ELD beyond HOS compliance?”

Improving CSA Scores?
Improving Fuel Economy?
Improving Driver Behavior?
Improving Delivery Rate?
Improve Customer/Shipper’s Satisfacton?

We suggest creating a technology plan that explores your entire operation before choosing an ELD for your company. Devices come with many features. Do you want something simple that just complies with the FMCSA ELD regulations or more complex that can prove beneficial in improving and simplifying safety, compliance and profitability in other areas of your operation as well?

Not all ELD solutions are the same. Even though manufactures will certify that their solution will meet FMCSA requirements, you will be responsible if:

The equipment in your truck fails
Your driver does not understand how to use the equipment
The equipment fails to meet FMCSA requirements

Make sure the device you choose matches your planning and the manufacturer you choose has the experience and resources to back up their product.

If Nobody Likes The Solution, No One Will Use It

An ELD product adopted without the support of the entire team will not solve even the most basic compliance issues.

You can have a great plan, buy all of the bells and whistles to fit the plan, but if the entire team is not involved and supportive, the plan can easily fall apart.

It is important to sit down with your staff. Educate them on what the ELD will do for the company, the driver, for them, and how they play a role in its success.

To get the buy-in for success, consider starting with just a few drivers who tend to be tech savvy and like technology as well as a driver or two who hate the idea of an ELD. Ask for their support in trying it. Ask for their feedback. Work with them individually to be successful with the new solution.

If done correctly, your test group can encourage the rest of your team to adopt the solution.

Without Internal Controls, ELD Gaps Become Costly Risks

Internal controls are the steps you take to ensure your ELD plan is not only implemented well but continues to run well. Internal controls deal with the “What if’s…” of your plan.

There are plenty of “What if’s” with any ELD that should be managed through internal controls:

What if the ELD unit is not installed right away?
What if a unit malfunctions?
What if the data is not accurate?
What if I need to retrieve data from two years ago?
What if the driver doesn’t use the ELD correctly?
What if I have trucks using different brands of ELD’s?

Suggested internal controls for a successful ELD plan:

Establish a system that verifies data accuracy from all sources
Implement a plan of initial and follow-up training for every level of staff in the company
Establish an effective safety committee to look for gaps in the plan
Establish company policies that reward safety and accuracy.
Establish a plan of what to do when ELD’s malfunction or are not installed in a timely fashion
Implement a smooth and seamless system with your drivers for correcting errors

Turning ELD Data Into Actionable And Profitable Information Takes Effective Management

ELD’s cannot replace the human intelligence required to make sense of the data and improve performance.

ELD’s will collect millions of data points that include dates, time, longitude, latitude, engine power status, engine hours, miles driven and much more. Data management not only is making sure the data is accurate, is useable, and is retrievable when you want it but also formatted to highlight both efficiencies and deficiencies in easy and understandable reports. A solid data management plan will measure the data over time to show trends and measure results.

Managing ELD data may require a much different skill set than your staff currently has and require improvements to your back office computer equipment and software. Outsourcing data management to a company with the expertise and latest technology may be the best option to retain knowledgeable staff, save on training, hardware, and software costs.

Improving Performance Through Managing Data

Idle time reports to reduce fuel costs
Hard braking reports to coach driver to safer driving habits
Auto scheduling of maintenance events to improve down time
Reducing the time involved with IFTA reporting
Improved dispatching based on available driver hours
Shorter distance traveled and fuel consumed through better route planning

Taking Action Turns Plans to Profits

Get the most out of your ELD - turning reports into profits means changing behavior.

How do you change behavior?

Establish proactive training programs where training is tracked and measured
- Customized training to improve often repeated violations
- Dispatcher training to understand HOS and route planning
- Training to improve the quality of new hires
- Training the mechanics to keep the ELD’s operating
Work with your customers to reduce or eliminate inefficient uses of time, such as detention
Regular team meetings to review the results
Look for things going right, recognize and reward!

DID YOU KNOW?

For a truck that consumes $70,000 of diesel fuel in a year, $5,600 is spent on idling.
Fuel economy decreases by .5 MPG for every 5 MPH a truck drives over 55 MPH.
A 5% increase in fuel economy, easily attainable by adopting telematics, translates into 30% increase in profit margin.
According to the FMCSA, it typically costs upwards of $8,000 to replace a driver.
13% of crashes are caused by driver fatigue

If You Don’t Measure Results, You Wont Know if Goals Were Met

As with any tool, it’s how you use it that will determine the quality of what you are trying to achieve.

Qualatative Goals

Did you make more money?
Did you decrease fuel consumption and idle time?
Did you receive less violations than the year before?
Did your CSA scores decrease?
Did you have less accidents?

Quanatative Goals

Have you improved driver satisfaction?
Is there an increase in customer and shipper’s satisfaction?
Was the safety team able to report more business insight of data and action plans/goals?
Did you improve driver retention?

Glostone Can HELP!

Glostone is the best company to outsource the ELD data management. The right technology solution can simplify 70% of the work involved in compliance. We can help with the 30% your ELD cannot do, and so much more.

We can incorporate and simplify the compliance burdens by managing: