If they haven\u2019t done so already, now is the time for Canadian carriers to start planning for the implementation of an electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, which is coming in the US by December 2017 and in Canada at some point thereafter.<\/p>\n
That was the message from Tom Cuthbertson, vice-president of regulatory compliance with Omnitracs and chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) ELD Task Force.<\/p>\n
This week, he addressed the Ontario Trucking Association\u2019s Council Summit on the impending legislation. Afterwards, he sat down with Truck News<\/em> to discuss the implications for the Canadian trucking industry:<\/p>\n [otabox padding=\u00a0\u00bb20″]<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a Canadian carrier going to the states, you need to think about this,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n The first decision that must be made if you\u2019re still using paper logs and travel into the US is whether to adopt an existing automatic on-board recording device (AOBRD) now or wait until there\u2019s a greater selection of ELDs available that meet the technical standards within the regulation. If you\u2019re currently running electronic logs, those systems will be grandfathered for two years after implementation of the new standard, meaning they\u2019ll be accepted until December 2019.<\/p>\n Cuthbertson\u2019s advice is to make the switch today, rather than wait.<\/p>\n \u201cMy suggestion operationally is, if you have nothing electronically, I would suggest you go forward, take some time to find a good vendor, put the AOBRDs in now and get the driver acclimated,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you wait till the 11th hour to go from paper to electronic, people are not going to comprehend the training time for those drivers, and it\u2019s not just drivers, it\u2019s the back office.\u201d<\/p>\n In some cases, Cuthbertson said, transitioning from a current AOBRD to fully compliant ELDs will require nothing more than a software update.<\/p>\n It\u2019s up to carriers to do their due diligence when selecting a vendor. If they find the device they\u2019ve chosen from the FMCSA\u2019s list is not compliant, it will be up to them to report it.<\/p>\n The ELD mandate will require better planning by drivers and dispatchers, and the cooperation of shippers, Cutherbertson noted.<\/p>\n Asked by Truck News<\/em> what his most important message is to Canadian fleets, Cuthbertson emphasized the need for preparation. When properly deployed, he said ELDs will benefit fleets and drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cDrivers are saying, \u2018I\u2019m getting drive time back. I don\u2019t have to worry about thinking at the end of the day where will I put my 15-minute tick mark? I have all my logs right here in front of me \u2013 I don\u2019t have to take that load. I know how much drive time I have left.\u2019 Some will say, \u2018I\u2019m more competitive with dispatch because they won\u2019t assign me a load if I don\u2019t have enough time to pick it up and go take my break.\u2019 All that is evident right in front of them. People are planning their days better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n [\/otabox]<\/p>\n