Common ELD Issues with Team Drivers
posted in Alerts by Brian Gray
Common ELD Issues with Team Drivers
For years, team drivers have been in high demand and in short supply. But demand has heated up in the wake of the federal government’s ELD mandate.
The ELD mandate requires that all non-exempt trucks be equipped with Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) to digitally track a driver’s compliance with federal Hours of Service (HOS) requirements. These devices are so accurate, especially compared to paper logs, that it will strictly track a driver’s behind-the-wheel time of 11 consecutive hours within a 14-hour workday.
A two-person driving team can make those runs in one day as a second driver would take the seat once the first nears the allowable limit.
However, we are seeing some common team driving ELD issues and as of April 1st, 2018, full enforcement is in effect and drivers can be placed out-of-service (OOS) for violating ELD rules. Let’s make sure your logs are accurate.
What does the ELD mandate say about Team Driving?
A common question that the FMCSA has addressed is about the display requirements for team drivers using the same electronic logging device (ELD) on their commercial motor vehicle (CMV).
According to the FMCSA, in the event of team drivers, the ELD must display the data for both co-drivers who are logged into the system.
There is basically two methods of ELDs: being hard-mounted into your vehicle, or a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) where the ELD app works with a phone or tablet that has internet or cell service. Both options have the hardware technology that connects to a port under the dashboard of your truck.
The issue that arises for team drivers is when a driver wants to use their BYOD cellphone or tablets to login to the ELD app to track their hours. However, the first driver was using their cellphone as the ELD. The rules are interpreted differently for each ELD company and many of ELD providers require drivers to use the same device because, basically, if they use different devices, the first one logged in for the day will “steal” hours from the second driver’s device, or other complicated issues.
With this, team drivers are complaining about having their HOS logs “on someone else’s phone or tablet” or they are not trained well (or at all) on how to switch their team driver in one ELD device.
If a team driver forgets to switch drivers on the ELD, it should be a simple back-office fix to edit that log change, with a notation, and you are good to go.
How does Team Driving work on a Geotab ELD?
To prevent frequent back-end office edits, training the drivers correctly is the biggest way to solve the issue. As a Geotab re-seller, let’s walk through how team driving works on Geotab’s GeoDrive ELD.
To begin team driving –
- Tap User Menu
- Tap Add Driver
- Login with second driver user ID and password
- Current driver has a steering wheel next to their name.
- You can swap between users by tapping on the name.
- If Driver B needs to change status to ON from SB but Driver A is driving still, they can tap their name and then change their status without affecting the driver.
To switch drivers:
- Stop driving
- Driver A will have to change status to ON, OFF, or SB.
- Press “Driver’s Seat” button
- Select Driver B
- Steering wheel will change to other driver now.
- Driver B is now driver and able to drive without influencing Driver A’s HOS Status.
Tips:
- Before driving, always tap User Menu and make sure steering wheel is next to name of intended driver.
- Driver listed on the top of User Menu is the “focused driver” and any changes of status will only affect that person. Tap other driver’s name to make them the “focused driver”.
