What elog are people using?

When used with the Bluetooth OBD interface it is indeed fully DOT-compliant.

 

This is why we might see a extension of the 12/18/17 date. This already has a total mess written all over it.

 

Bingo.

 

Somewhere on here there is another thread on eld devices. It has a link to fmcsa's website of approved devices. Lots of comments on elds as well .

 

So my company uses Peoplenet... It might be heresy to say so but I kinda like it. It looks a lot like that picture of the Omnitracs unit someone posted, attaches to the dash and has a large easy to read touch screen. It does...everything. Keeps track of HOS and MPG, IFTA miles and even the weather. On your display (safe screen) you get a running total of time to drive, on duty and cycle (70hr). You get instant mpg and trip average, direction of travel and outside temp. You can play messages while driving or read them in your inbox whenever the truck stops, it has it's own email. It has a nav program although I use my Garmin but it has programmed into it company nav locations, like remote clay piles in the BFE section of BFE on a cow path 10 miles from the nearest cow. I gotta tell you it keeps you hopping, no way to just loaf around without costing you money. I work on a percentage and if the truck ain't makin' money neither am I. I have learned that logging off duty doesn't stop the 14 hour clock, once you hit pre trip at the beginning of your day it's on! It does however stop the 70 hr clock.. Still don't understand how this works but I will get it. Whenever you stop, load, unload, bathroom emergency.. You should always log off duty, the time still comes off your on duty but it saves as much as possible for drive time. There are ways to make it stop the clock but that's splitting time or some such and I don't have time for that. What you do is run legal but run with the left door closed as much as possible until the end of the 14 hour day. I run regional and I'm home weekends usually at least 40 hours so I don't get burned out. Once you get used to it then it's better than having to break out a book and figure out how to make it work. If I make a mistake my dispatch can and does fix it remotely, no big deal. It has the capability of being a real "nazi" about things but my company doesn't use it like that. They are interested in my keeping legal HOS and monitoring the MPG, they have been getting the award for best fleet MPG for a long time and they like it. My truck is set for 65.8 but I don't hear about overspeed or any of that.. I drive it the way I drive it.

It's pretty simple if you are just operating it.. Just push the right button at the right times... Tell it what you are doing. You stop for more than a few minutes.. Go off duty, you fuel, tell it fuel, you load tell it load.. You have to give it 8 minutes for pre and post trip but there is no waiting on anything else.. You hit load and go... The system also takes care of work flow. It transmits BOL info and weights you type into it. They can plan better because they know when you get somewhere and when you are ready to go.. Something called GPS fencing... A "fence" around all your customers that once crossed tells them you are about to load or unload and marks the time of day. For me that's not a problem because I don't have actual appointments since I'm in the end dump business. But when I arrive somewhere to unload my dispatcher knows to upload the info for my next load and when I am ready I can read it.

ELD or electronic logging is not the end of civilization, mine does not take pictures of me nor does it babysit me. It does record things about the truck but my company doesn't bother me about it as long as I am delivering loads safely. It is part of my long term plan to buy a truck eventually when I am ready financially and have a solid business plan for it.. Maybe a year from now. I will be buying a late model truck and it will have something like this because A. It is the law and B. I see it as a tool to make doing business easier...

Just sayin'

BTW: With this thing, I don't have to talk to my dispatcher much unless I just want to say Hi. I do text with here some but not everyday. I also will call her from time to time.. I can communicate with whoever including our shop with the Peoplenet. It is possible I could work all week without speaking to anyone but my imaginary friend in the jump seat...lol. Or on the CB which is a required tool in what I do.. Can't have the loader tryin' to figure out what my hand gestures mean

 

I'm sure at some point we will be forced into electronics, do to the sheeple thinking the Gov and fmcsa really care for them and continue "allowing" it to go on. But till then... I'll stick with what I know works.
3 million accident free miles, with older technology and still going. Everybody be safe out there.

 

I'm an OO and when I signed up to drive with LTI Trucking they got me an ELD (Qualcomm) and set it up for me all free of charge. You may wanna see bout finding a co to pair up with that will do the same-not sure how common of practice that is though

 

I just ordered mine yesterday and sales rep said they are already coming up short on stock said it would be here in 2 weeks.