Countdown to ELD with a Trucking Expert

We’ve been chatting with the panelists for our August 29 webinar “Countdown to ELD: Get Your Burning Questions Answered” with Heavy Duty Trucking to get their thoughts ahead of the impending ELD deadline. A panel of experts including Avery Vise, president of TransComply; Deborah Lockridge, editor in chief of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine. The webinar, “Countdown to ELD: Get Your Burning Questions Answered,” will be hosted by Heavy Duty Trucking and sponsored by Verizon.

In our last post, Vise noted that many fleets were waiting to choose and implement a solution because of “a lot of false hope being given that [the ELD mandate deadline] will not happen.”

This time, we spoke with Deborah Lockridge, and she’s on the same page as Vise. She says many fleets, especially smaller ones, are way behind in adopting a solution because there’s confusion. A lot of fleets are crossing their fingers for a delay.

“Most watchers we know that are experienced in Washington don’t think it’s likely,” Lockridge says. Legislation takes a long time and goes through a complicated process, which means it’s not likely anything meaningful will happen before December 18. “Small fleets that are betting on there being a difference [from any legislation] will be in a world of hurt if they think there’s going to be a delay.”

The confusion and hesitation makes a lot of sense, though. Lockridge points out that no outside agency has been given the job of validating whether a device is compliant and that so many new devices are self-certifying all the time. “There are companies we’ve never heard of that have come out of the woodwork, and we’re not sure if those are going to be compliant. It’s a buyer beware situation.”

Lockridge’s advice for fleets without an ELD solution is to do your research. Start with a well-known vendor with a good track record. “It’s important to work with a provider you trust who has a name, who knows the trucking industry.”

She also says to talk to other fleets that are already using ELDs. A fleet that has already addressed driver concerns about learning new technology or the lack of flexibility will have valuable advice on how to prepare for these challenges.

Bottom line: Lockridge recommends getting your hands on the information you need from people in the know. “HOS regulations are complex. Then you add in the ELD regulations, which are complex,” she says. Knowing what to look for in an ELD solution and what to expect from implementation can get you on the right track.

Registration for this webinar is closed, but you can watch the on-demand video.