J.J. Keller vs Qualcomm Omnitracs

The new Qualcoms don't have an antenna on the roof anymore. No more wires to run outside the truck.

 

If you are forced to log back in you can change status immediately and it doesn't record the on duty log in.

 

I had the Qualcom unit for the last two years at my last job, but for the last two years I have been on the J.J. Keller system.

1) The Qualcom system was a bit more reliable being satellite based, but as others have said the Keller system just keeps data stored until it got service again.

2) The Keller system installs much faster,

3) As long as you didn't approve the logs and submit you could go back days on the Qualcom and change things except for drive time. With the Keller system you cant.

4) Dispatchers liked the Qualcom system better because she said "I can send loads assignments to 10 drivers in the time it takes me to call one of you and explain what I want you to do.

As far as the elog portion of it I liked the Qualcom better. The thing I do like about the Keller system is I can use Google Earth and get my emails to and from the payroll department and my permits on the same tablet as I do my logs on.

 

No s#i*....I left a lease op position last fall that was still using that setup. Installing the big antenna and all in the truck. What is the setup now? This company had to monitor all truck functions including ignition, lug, over speed , dispatch, and all. Hated it.

 

Jumbo, I did exactly as you described, immediately changed to off duty, the 1 minute on duty remained. The Keller trainers were still at my Co HQ when it happened and showed our safety director how to edit to solve, but Curt at Keller said this is the way it is presently programmed
During the course of the day you are correct, force it to off duty, and it will show 1 minute of on duty then if you stay still for more than 5 minutes, it is supoossed to get rid of that 1 minute on duty, but sometimes it does and sometime it doesn't.

 

We just got set-up with JJ Keller's equipment yesterday, and it seems pretty easy to use so far... we'll see how everything goes next week when it gets really important to work properly.

Needless to say, having spent about 2-years using Qualcomm in the past, this JJ Keller system is VERY different and seems to be much easier to use.

 

We've now been struggling with numerous issues on the JJ Keller unit, and it doesn't look good that all of the bugs will be worked out before the April 1st deadline hits for more strict enforcement of the mandate... I wish we had gone with Qualcomm!

 

Can you expand on these issues?

I just put one in(not by choice) and compared to the RM it's replacing it takes more steps to enter the same data and the location data is not readily available when editing. Just a couple of observations in the 3 days I've been using it.

 

We switched over to the jjk from the rand. Everyone from the office to the drivers hates it. Customer service from jjk is nonexistent.

The app constantly shuts itself off. I am forming the opinion you have to use a seperate, dedicated device for it. On my iphone, anytime i receive a call or text, i have to reboot the jjk app. It just won’t stay on! When i tap any of the options, it takes between 30 seonds to 2 minutes for the app to respond. It constantly switches to on-duty when driving (default after the app crashes?). I have to go in and manually change all the on-duty switches back to driving. I note the changes as “eld error” and am tired of all the extra time at the end of my day i have to spend correcting all the errors.

 

It's more stable on my android device. Rarely does it shut down by itself, but it slows the tablet to a crawl. I can use the BT for other things while connected also. Which is good, since Pandora is my primary source of music. I backup nightly so if the tablet does take a dump I can switch to the phone as it doesn't download the current day correctly when I just switch between devices.

If the unit makes a mistake I just roll with it. It has never put me driving when I wasn't but has coughed once (in my favor.)