As of December 17th, all fleets in the U.S.A using the grandfathered automatic onboard recording devices (AOBRDs) will be required to be fully switched over to electronic logging devices (ELDs) as per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) final rule which was issued in late 2017.
The two-year grandfathering was put in place with the intention to ease the changeover to ELDs and not meant as a reason for fleets to wait until the last minute to comply, yet despite the lead time, warnings from experts that the switch over can be complex, and a rapidly closing compliance window, there remains more than a few trucking operations cutting things really close. If this applies to you, we strongly encourage you to contact us today.
It’s vitally important that employees are introduced to and trained on the ELD equipment and features before the day of conversion as inspectors will be expecting drivers to know how to use the ELD on December 17th without any further grace period or warnings being given. Having your ELD solution in place well in advance of the deadline allows for more thorough training for employees which will help reduce the number of entry errors, which equate to fewer violations during roadside inspection and minimizes the effect on your company’s safety record.
If it is found during a roadside inspection that a driver doesn’t know how to use their ELD solution, it is likely they will receive a citation, fine, and/or be put out of service. With the ELD mandate deadline falling in the middle of the holiday shopping season and the busiest time of year for many fleets, being down a driver or truck is the last thing you want.
The responsibility to have drivers up to speed on how to use ELDs isn’t the only training necessary to comply with the FMCSA’s ELD mandate – back office staff are also required to have a thorough understanding of all aspects of ELD operations. Should your business be audited and found that your back office is unsure how to use the ELD solution, they will, like drivers, be cited and the fleet will receive a fine. As these fines can be substantial, you don’t want to take that risk.
If you are not yet compliant with the FMCSA ELD mandate coming into force December 16th, contact GPS to GO today – the clock is ticking!
