SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITIONING TO ELDS Successfully Transitioning to ELDs
Successfully Transitioning to ELDs As the December 2017 electronic logging device (ELD) compliance date nears, this white paper provides important information for fleets to use to successfully transition to ELDs. It contains the following sections: 1. The Latest from Washington 2. De-mystifying the ELD Regulations 3. Training Your Team 4. Updating Company Policies & Procedures 5. A Glimpse Into Roadside Enforcement of the ELD Rules 6. Using Available Resources Also, included in certain sections of this paper are a number of frequently asked questions from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration s FAQs website document. Many fleets have posed ELD-related questions to FMCSA, and the agency responded by posting a comprehensive FAQs document. A link to this document is provided in Section 5, Using Available Resources. 1. First, The Latest From Washington, D.C. The 2016 lawsuit filed by a driver-focused association against the ELD regulation officially ended in June 2017 when the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to hear the case. This means the lower Court s October 2016 decision upholding the comprehensive ELD mandate rules stands. On the legislative side in Congress, there has been limited interest in delaying the compliance date. Barring any unforeseen action by Congress or the Trump Administration, the path to the December 2017 compliance date, appears clear. 2
2. De-mystifying the ELD Regulations The ELD regulations are detailed, complex, and a bit daunting for many carriers. They can be simplified and de-mystified, though. At a high level, the ELD regulations do five (5) things. They establish: Minimum performance and design standards for the ELD device, allowing it to accurately record a driver s hours-ofservice A first-of-its-kind requirement for ELD suppliers to register with FMCSA, and self-certify to the agency and the motor carrier industry that their ELD meets the performance and design standards Rules requiring use of a certified ELD by drivers operating in interstate commerce who are currently required to prepare a record of duty status, (or RODS--the government term for a paper log) Streamlined supporting documents rules for keeping and filing other business records (e.g., bills of lading, truck fueling records, payroll records, etc.) that can be used to verify the information on a driver s ELD record New rules prohibiting carriers from using ELD information to harass (i.e., force) drivers into violating hours-of-service limits or driving while fatigued. The ELD regulations also include four (4) specific exemptions for certain types of drivers and carriers. Below is one of the most frequently asked questions posed to FMCSA about the ELD rule. It is taken from FMCSA s document entitled, Top Frequently Asked Questions about the ELD Rule, and includes a description of the four specific exemptions (see the italicized parts of the answer). Q: Who must comply with the electronic logging device (ELD) rule? A: The ELD rule applies to motor carriers and drivers who are currently required to keep records of duty status status (RODS) under the hours-of-service regulations. Drivers who use the time card exception, and don t keep paper RODS, will not be required to use ELDs. The following drivers may keep paper RODS: Drivers who keep RODS no more than 8 days during any 30-day period. Driveaway-towaway drivers (transporting a vehicle for sale, lease, or repair), provided the vehicle driven is part of the shipment, or the vehicle being transported is a motor home or recreational vehicle trailer. Drivers of vehicles manufactured before model year 2000. However, a carrier can choose to use an ELD, even if it is not required. Fleets are well-served if one or more people with safety and compliance responsibilities take the time to read the actual language of the ELD rules in Subpart B of Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (they are only about 5 pages), and the 20 pages of FMCSA s ELD Frequently Asked Questions document. Links to both are included in Section 6 of this paper. While reading the rule language itself may not de-mystify the ELD mandate, reading FMCSA s Frequently Asked Questions document will help do so. 3
3. Training Your Team Surprisingly, the ELD regulations do not require carriers to formally train drivers on ELDs. However, it s a practical reality and a very good idea! The technology is new to many drivers and office personnel, the rules are detailed, and each company will have compliance policies and operational procedures related to ELD use. Even if a carrier has been using some type of electronic logging system for years, ELDs capture more data, and the rules governing ELD use are new and complex. Training is critical and, at a minimum, it should include drivers, safety and compliance personnel, maintenance staff, and operations and dispatch staff. DRIVERS will need to become intimately familiar with all of these items, and more: Look, feel and functions of the selected ELD technology Login and logout processes Methods for changing duty status from the automatically captured driving time to on-duty, not driving (line 4), off-duty (line 1), and, if applicable, sleeper berth status (line 2) How the special driving categories of personal conveyance and yard moves are activated, if authorized by the carrier Data that is automatically recorded by the ELD, and the information that must be manually entered by the driver How the required data must be shown or transferred to a law enforcement officer, when requested Edit and annotate the ELD record when mistakes are made, or information is missing Unassigned driving time, and how it s handled by the ELD and the carrier What to do if/when the ELD malfunctions Any additional business records must be kept, provided to a law enforcement officer when requested, and submitted to the company, under the ELD rules SAFETY, COMPLIANCE, DISPATCH, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE personnel will need to become very familiar with these items, and more: Look, feel and functions of the selected ELD technology Look, feel and functions of the office software associated with ELDs How to create and maintain user accounts Data captured, and the reports generated by the ELD and related software Edit and annotate the ELD record when mistakes are made by a driver Log a driver out of the ELD system (when he/she forgets) Transfer ELD records to a law enforcement officer, when requested, during an ELD malfunction Handle and reconcile any unassigned driving time captured by the ELD ELD maintenance and calibration requirements ELD records must kept, and accessed by drivers and other company personnel Any additional business records must be kept in order to help carrier and government personnel verify ELD record information Documentation about the ELD that must be maintained in the vehicle 4
In order to successfully transition to ELDs, it s hard to overstate the importance of training. Simply put, it s critical to success. And, carriers should consider providing multiple training sessions for all affected drivers and personnel. Keep in mind that many people learn by doing. Consider having an ELD set up in the training room to facilitate hands-on use of the device. PeopleNet has an entire training team with expertise in developing information and materials to help customers with their training needs. No need to reinvent the training wheel! Also, FMCSA s Frequently Asked Questions can be used to supplement your training materials. For example, the following two FAQs could be weaved in to a carrier s training program and material: Q: Who can edit an electronic logging device (ELD) record? A: Both the driver and authorized carrier staff can make limited edits to an ELD record to correct mistakes or add missing information. All edits must include a note (annotation) to explain the reason for the edit. In addition, the driver must confirm (certify) that any carrier edit is accurate, and resubmit the records. If the driver chooses not to re-certify his or her RODS, this is also reflected in the ELD record. The ELD keeps the original, unedited record, along with the edits. Example: a carrier edits a record to switch a period of time from off-duty to on-duty not driving, with a note that explains Driver logged training time incorrectly as off-duty. The edit and annotation are sent to the driver to verify. The edit is not accepted until the driver confirms it and resubmits the RODS. Q: What are the options for ELDs to electronically transfer data? A: An ELD must be able to either: Transmit data using wireless Web services and email, or Transfer data locally using a thumb or flash drive (USB2.0) and Bluetooth. A driver must also be able to provide either the display or a printout to an authorized safety official on request. Keep in mind that many people learn by doing. Consider having an ELD set up in the training room to facilitate hands-on use of the device. 5
4. Updating Company Policies & Procedures Reviewing and updating company policies and procedures is also an important and necessary step toward successful ELD implementation. Most carriers have formal safety and compliance-related policies and procedures, and they should be reviewed and updated as part of the transition to ELDs. Below are some issues that should be considered by carriers during this review process. A. Use of trucks by drivers while off-duty Professional truck drivers operating their trucks (unladen) for personal reasons while on-the-road, and off-the-clock, is nothing new. In fact, personal use (called personal conveyance or PC by government regulators) is a common and accepted industry practice. As a result, the ELD rules accommodate this type of off-duty truck use. For employee drivers and company owned trucks, it s the carrier s choice on whether it will allow use of PC. Does your company have a policy allowing it? If so, does it need to be updated? If not, should your company consider having a policy? Is your company aware of FMCSA s guidance on PC? C. Unassigned driving time One of the newer concepts with ELDs is unassigned driving time. As mentioned in B, ELDs will capture truck movement, even if no one is logged in to the ELD. Each one of these unassigned driving time events must be reviewed by the driver of that truck during his/her next login, and that time must either be accepted or rejected by the driver. If the driver rejects the time, the rules require carrier staff to review all unassigned driving time events, and assign them to the appropriate driver, or explain in a note on the ELD record why it is unassigned. Does your company have a policy and procedure on who will handle this responsibility? Does your company have or need a policy designed to limit the number and type of unassigned driving time events? B. Moving trucks on a yard Before ELDs, when a driver moved a truck on a yard, the hours of service rules required the driver to record that time on his paper log. It was an honor system. ELDs will automatically capture every truck move on a yard, and record it as driving time, unless the driver pushes the yard moves button. If the yard moves button is pushed, the ELD will record that time as on-duty not driving time (line 4). If a mechanic or other non-driver moves a truck on a yard (or on a highway to road test a truck), and doesn t log in to the ELD device, the ELD label the person as an unidentified driver, and it will capture the time as unassigned driving time. Does your company have a policy on non-drivers moving trucks on a yard, or on the road? Does your company have a policy on whether non-drivers, who move trucks on a yard/road, are given an ELD user account? If not, you ll need a policy. D. Editing of ELD records Drivers will make mistakes while using ELDs, and many of them will be honest mistakes. The new rules accommodate this reality, and allow both drivers and carrier staff to make needed edits. Does your company have a policy regarding whether you prefer drivers make needed edits, or company staff? Should you consider how quickly edits must be made? What if a driver wants to edit his/her ELD record days after it was submitted? 6
E. ELD Malfunctions ELDs are computers, and computers can and do fail. When they do, the ELD rules require drivers to notify the carrier in writing within 24 hours, and default to a paper log during the malfunction time- period. Also, the rules require malfunctioning ELDs be fixed or replaced within 8 days. Does your company have policies and procedure covering these new requirements? What is the preferred company procedure for drivers to communicate a malfunction in writing within 24 hours (i.e., an email, a text message, listing it on a DVIR)? Who in the company is responsible for working with your ELD vendor when an ELD malfunctions? If your vendor cannot provide a solution within 8 days, who in the company is responsible for working with FMCSA on an extension? G. Disciplinary Policies Paper logs allowed, and required, drivers to log all working and off-duty time in 15 minutes increments. With this paper log limitation, a driver, who may have been a few minutes past the maximum driving time, likely reflected it on the paper log as exactly 11 hours of driving time. ELDs will capture every minute of driving time, which means 11 hours and 5 minutes of driving time will be reflected as just that. And, it is a violation. Does your company s disciplinary policy for hours of service violations address this new ELD reality? A similar scenario could develop for drivers not taking 10 or more hour off-duty between work shifts. Does your company policy address this as well? F. Safety & Compliance Bonuses If you have a bonus program for drivers tied to safety and/or compliance performance, does it address hours of service compliance and ELD use? If not, should you consider it to help facilitate driver acceptance of ELDs, and proper use? H. Anti-Harassment The new ELD rules include language that strictly prohibits a carrier from using information obtained from the ELD to force a driver to violate applicable hours of service rules, or drive while either ill or fatigued. This rule is separate and distinct from FMCSA s anti-coercion rule. Does your company have a policy designed to ensure compliance with this new anti-harassment rule? And, if a driver believes the company may be in violation of this rule, does your company have a procedure in place to handle this type of driver complaint? Are drivers aware of the process to file such complaints with FMCSA? This list is not exhaustive, and is intended to get carrier personnel thinking about current policies and procedures that may need to be updated, and new company policies that may be needed. Ideally, these policy updates would be completed before, and included in, the ELD training discussed in Section 3. 7
5. A Glimpse Into Roadside Enforcement of the ELD Rules An important aspect of any new regulation is its enforcement. Carriers and drivers need to know how certain hours of service and ELD-related violations will be treated, particularly during roadside inspections. As the December 2017 compliance date nears, FMCSA and its State enforcement partners are preparing materials and conducting training for their compliance and enforcement staff. For State and Canadian Provincial enforcement, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), an organization dedicated to improving the uniformity of roadside CMV inspection and enforcement efforts in North America, recently added ELD-related information to its North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOS criteria), the passfail criteria for driver and vehicle inspections. The purpose of the OOS criteria is to identify critical violations that render the driver, vehicle and/or cargo out of service until the condition(s) or defect(s) can be corrected or fixed. Earlier this year, CVSA added ELD violation information to its OOS criteria. To do this, CVSA reviewed existing paper logbook violations, and added information explaining how these OOS logbook violations will be enforced on drivers with ELDs. These CVSA explanations are provided in the table below. Keep in mind that the violations included in the table are only those that will result in an OOS order. There are other ELD-related violations that could be cited during a roadside inspection, but would not result in the driver being placed OOS. For example, these include missing ELD record information such as a shipping document number, a truck or tractor identification number, or a trailer number. These non-oos violations will not be included in CVSA s OOS criteria. Paper Logbook Out-of-Service Violation Corresponding ELD Out-of-Service Violation No record of duty status (i.e., log) 1. If a driver is required to have an ELD and the vehicle is not equipped with an ELD (or AOBRD until Dec 17, 2019), the driver is considered to have no record of duty status 2. If a driver does not log into the ELD as required (see 395.22(e)), the driver is considered to have no record of duty status 3. If a driver is unable to produce or transfer the data from and AOBRD or ELD to an authorized safety official as required by 395.15(b) or 395.24(d), the driver is considered to have no record of duty status 4. If a driver/carrier is using an ELD that is not authorized by the FMCSA per 395.22(a), the driver/carrier is considered to have no record of duty status 5. If a carrier does not repair a malfunctioning ELD within 8 days, or obtain an extension from the FMCSA Division Administrator as required by 395.34(d), the driver is considered to have no record of duty status False log If a driver indicates use of a special driving category as defined by 395.28(a) when not involved in that activity, the driver s log is considered to be false Driver not in possession of previous seven (7) days of logs If a driver with a malfunctioning AOBRD or ELD fails to reconstruct logs for the current 24-hour period and the previous 7 days as required by 395.15(f) or 395.34(a)(2), the driver is considered to not have the previous 7 days of logs NOTE: A complete CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria Handbook can be purchased at http://cvsa.org/inspections/inspections/out-ofservice-criteria/. As more enforcement information is made available by FMCSA and CVSA, PeopleNet is committed to providing and explaining it to its customers, and to the industry at large. 8
6. Using Available Resources Many free resources are available to carrier personnel who have some responsibility for transitioning the company and its drivers to ELDs. Below are links to just some of the available videos, white papers, blog posts and other material. PeopleNet Links ELD infographics, white papers, videos and related blog posts https://www.peoplenetonline.com/products/safety-compliance/electronic-logging-devices/ https://www.peoplenetonline.com/blog/ FMCSA Links ELD rule, Frequently Asked Questions & Checklist for Carriers https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/electronic-logging-devices https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/faqs https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/eld-checklist-carriers About PeopleNet PeopleNet provides solutions to help fleets improve safety and compliance and reduce costs. PeopleNet s network communications, mobility and analytics products are used by more than 2,000 truckload, LTL, private, and energy services fleets throughout North America. PeopleNet was established in 1994 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with an office in Ontario, Canada. PeopleNet is a Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) Company and part of its international Transportation and Logistics Division. To learn more about PeopleNet and its products, visit www.peoplenetonline.com or call (888) 346-3486. 9