eld crapping out already

Many of the better quality ELDs will have a rugged mount to hold the display, it will have one cable that goes behind the dash and that is where it connects to the J-bus to collect the engine data. The really good ones, and most likely to actually be fully compliant will have all the memory and software built into the cradle or the box under the dash so that the screen doesn't have to do anything except display and input information. They also will have the data modem built into the ECM interface rather than relying on the tablet or cell phone data plan, although that is more expensive.

 

I am running the VDO RoadLog system, its the only one out there with no monthly fees that doesn't use a tablet or smart phone. It also has a printer for roadside inspection. It's also not one of these late comers, the company that makes this has been doing electronic logs longer than any other company. It's working really good so far (although I am "officially still on paper" and will continue on paper until the 18th...)

 

So let me get this straight,,, they WANT us to go down the road watching a computer screen.

Lolololol.

But seriously, got my tablet last week, doing a test run this week, (LOTS of troubleshooting) here's a little tip: my tablet came with a little case and the case was packaged with a piece of foam the size of the tablet to insert in the case to keep it's shape. I'm going to use that piece of foam as an isolator to keep the vibrations away from the tablet, although for this week it's just been sitting on the dash with no issues. (Other than the charger cable slipping out. Battery life is terrible, but it can go for a few hours unplugged, just not a whole day.)

 

Extreme heat and cold is going to be the biggest enemy of tablets used as "dedicated eLog interfaces". There are rugged, heavy duty pads available, but those would be significantly more expensive than a dedicated Omnitracs system

 

There are several qualcomm systems on eBay that are up for sale. Many far cheaper than I thought they would be. Just search qualcomm mcp

 

I know several guys running BigRoad DashLink with NO problems whatsoever.

 

Same here, works without problems on Samsung Tab E

 

Finally got through to tech support. Told them my recorded mileage is off by never less than 20% and hundreds of miles are missing in only a few days.

They said they'd update my software remotely when the tech department comes in at 9.

Frankly, do I really care?