J.J. Keller vs Qualcomm Omnitracs

I have used both the Qualcomm MCP200 (Albeit that was 3+ years ago) and the current JJ Keller EOBR system.

On the drivers end of things I personally feel that the Qualcomm system had a much more intuitive UI and was much easier to understand for somebody who has never used either.

I was never a fan of the large in cab unit and the big cord that the Qualcomm system used.

I like that the JJ Keller system can use any off the shelf tablet and is wireless from the EOBR unit to the tablet. While the JJK app isn't quite as easy to understand at first it is much simpler overall that the Qualcomm system.

JJ Keller doesn't require the tablet to have cell service. They use the data service to match your GPS location to a city and to upload your logs back to home. If you don't have Data service it will just ask you to manually enter the city and state everytime you change duty status. You can use a wifi connection at a truck stop to upload logs if you don't have any data connection ever.

I also travel in Canada with the JJ Keller system. It will work fine without being connected to a network and will just upload your logs to home when you come back into the US.

 

The editing side of things is for sure one on the places where Qualcomm is better.

From my experience so far the driver can't do much in the way of editing on JJK. It's been 6 months since I last used it but will be using it again starting tomorrow. The only editing capability I have found is changing the start time of the current duty change and the comment. I have yet to find a place where I can go back and change anything earlier in the day.

For now I don't have any experience on the 8/2 split on JJK because I simply haven't used it. It's pretty rare for me to not have 10-12 hours breaks every night while on the road.

The lack of editing on the driver's side of JJK is one of the points of argument between me and the safety person within my company. We are a 10 truck company so we only have people in the office from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. I've had a few occasions where it messed up a 30 minute break late at night and had to drive with the log saying I was illegal for a few hours. They fixed the mishap in the morning but it still bugs me to have my log showing me as illegal while I'm driving.

This is a problem that will occur in the future again I'm sure and since I tend to drive either very late at night or very early in the morning it will have to be handled.

Another potential place of problems with the lack of editing I have run into is with taking my 10 hr break at night. I had one night where I drove until about 10PM and forgot to put my self to Off Duty. When I woke up in the morning around 7:30 it showed that I had never taken a break. So I changed it to off duty but it would only let me back the time up to 12:01 AM so on my end it showed me as only having a 7.5hr break. Luckily I hadn't planned on leaving until 8AM and was able to call the office and have them fix it so I could start my day.

I'm in the process of trying to get them to either answer the phone at 2AM or give me the login info to make those corrections. Since I am probably to most tech savvy driver we have I even offered to be the person our older drivers could call in the middle of the night to fix problems. Their argument is that the drivers aren't supposed to be able to edit their logs otherwise we can just change it and run illegal. My side is that the system keeps track of who makes edits and requires a comment noting the reason so even if I wanted to there would be a digital trail.


So the TL;DR is this:

Qualcomm in my past experience is easier to edit on the driver's device in the truck compared to JJ Keller.

The only way you can edit the JJ Keller beyond current duty status is if you or somebody you can contact easily has access to the backend software. JJ Keller support has no access to editing logs. I called and asked and they told me it was out of their control.


Sorry that got a bit long winded but let me know if you would like any more info. I just finished reinstalling the JJ Keller system in my new truck on Friday and will be running it again.

 

No you were not long winded for me. No sir.

You had me leaning forward in the chair ready to do battle when you referred the Company's own checks and balances against drivers editing right back at them when they sprouted a fear of drivers editing. That pretty much scored for you favor. I love it. Company expresses a unfounded fear and you snipped it. In fact Company should not have a issue at all with black hats overeditiong or writing fantasy logs because Company needs courage to execute.. uh.. fire these bad blackhats. *Samuari Gong*****

 

My biggest thing that I forget is to put it to off duty when I stop during the day or at the end. I forget and it switches to on duty after 5 minutes and then I either have to just burn the couple minutes of on duty time or call and get it fixed. I figure after a few times of calling them at 1AM I might be able to get the log in to fix my own problems.

My biggest argument that they couldn't answer was: What about the single person Owner/OP using this system. They are the Dispatch/Safety/Driver. They own everything so they would have access to the system anyways.

While I do work for a company and it is their truck we basically operate as Owner Ops with regards to running the equipment. They give us a pickup and delivery and then leave us alone. I just keep them updated if problems occur in the middle. My current load is a 5 stop going from WI to TX and I won't speak to anybody in the office until all 5 are dropped most likely.

 

Our company just started installing the JJ Keller Encompass system. Took the training from the JJK reps sent to our office to train the back office and 12 drivers. Not impressed, since I used to be a supervisor for Penske Logistics and I understand how to train drivers
If you make a mistake on todays log it cannot be changed until you submit it, the your company can do it.
Not a very intuitive system. If you turn off your phone or tablet, it forces you to log back on, but by default forces you immediately to on duty status. If that occurs during 30 minute or 10 hour break it screws the break time up.
When you log off at end of day, their recommended procedure it will by default force you to off duty, even if your duty status indicated in sleeper berth.
It appears that JJK raided nearby Schneider HQ and hired them to help with development/training/implementation and the philosophy shows in the training and programming. Again, not impressed.
Would go with VDO system if it were my choice, they are the largest provider of these systems worldwide and have been at it in Europe for 30+ years.

 

Rand McNally if I had the choice. I used Rand as an O/O leased to a company, and QC leased to a company.
QC had antenna on roof, wire down the back, hole drilled up into the bunk, wires run to "brain." From there the wires went to the dash, and then to the display unit. Like @x1Heavy said, the QC knows everything. Also with the QC, I had to have a ignition interlock installed, and a panic button....for ""safety"". I did not like it....install,was on a 389 Pete.
The Rand McNally unit is plug and play from your diagnostic port to the display. It uses a Y plug at the port, so any other need to access the port isn't compromised. The display unit is the antenna, brains, GPS, and dispatch. This unit was self contained, and allowed GPS navigation, dispatch for work assignments, hours of service. I hauled HazMat with the Rand system, and the vehicle info section was very helpful to set up your truck dimensions and cargo. Note, this was not the 730 unit with the HD100 plugged in for hours, this was one self contained unit. I loved it. This install was on a '04 Vision, and '17 389. FYI the 17 Pete has the green diagnostic port, so make sure the ends match.

 

Just try and download your logs from omni tracks
The logs are only saved 6 months and I need them to prove my per diem
Just says device not supported
I've tried to manually put flash on my android
Nothing
Tried downloading the dolphin browser
Nothing
I have no way to see or retrieve my logs
Really sucks