It has been congressionally mandated that truck fleets log their driver hours electronically. This is hoped to create a safer work environment for drives but to also make it easier to track and manage records more accurately.
Driver hours Logged Electronically
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as well as U.S. truck fleet services company Omnitracs, are rolling out a tablet-software package which will now help smaller carriers comply with federal regulation to log driver hours electronically. Now with the joint efforts of Samsung and Omnitracs, fleet owners and managers can improve safety and productivity – and all from a Samsung mobile device.
This means that Samsung devices like the Galaxy Tab E, combined with Omnitracs reporting software will be available for all those mid-sized and smaller carriers. Omnitracs offers global fleet management solutions to transportation and logistics companies.
Now, however, they have partnered with Samsung Electronics to assist the transportation industry to tackle the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration -FMCSA – Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate.
Recreational Usage part of the Deal
Security solutions with Omnitracs’ XRS fleet management software and Samsung mobile devices will work together so that drivers will now be able to monitor their hours of service logs so as to comply with legal requirements. It’s not all work-related though, and the mobile device will also be able to offer recreational usage during off-duty hours.
The solution also provides fleets with important driver performance analytics such as fuel usage, speed, drive time, driver behaviour and other trip data so as to lower costs and improve driver safety.
Little Bit of Cheating going On?
This electronic logging system has become necessary because now this improved fleet and device management will offer more accuracy. Up until now, with paper logs, drivers have been able to tamper with the books, inflating their hours on the road. There are already some of the major carriers such as Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings who have been using electronic logs for years already, so this is nothing new for them, but now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reckons that the mandate will now affect more than 3 million drivers.
A Powerful Tracking Tool in a Cell Phone
This new government regulation is due in December, and for Omnitracs, partnering with Samsung simply serves to further their commitment to providing carriers with excellent products and services. Samsung already has established a reputation for state-of-the-art technology and this will be what drives Electronic Logging Device implementation within the trucking industry.
With a mobile device, you’ll have a powerful fleet XRS optimization tool, allowing fleets to improve measurement and reporting of driver and vehicle performance. This working together of Samsung and Omnitracs is going to be good for drivers and good for business. Not only that, with this tool, the drivers themselves are going to be saving up to 20 minutes of administrative time each day, and this will help to increase driver productivity.
With the trucking industry now vying to be acquiescent with ELD standards by the end of the year, Samsung is also stepping in to help trucking companies realise their goals. Transportation trucking companies in the 21st century are relying on mobile devices for analytical-, navigational and recreational functions and now the two companies are collaborating to offer mobility with telematics capabilities.
When drivers are off the road and off duty, they’ll be able to access the Samsung device for personal usage. The Samsung Knox software will enable a distinct partition between work and personal usage of the device. Many people are wanting the Tab E tablet then because of its nice big 8-inch form factor, but the solution can also work with Samsung smartphones like the Note8 and the Galaxy S8.
The Movements of the Truck Captured
The trucking industry is undergoing transformation and getting rid of paper logging is one of the more recent. Now drivers will be expected to document details of their journey electronically. Many companies have already registered devices with the FMCSA, a mandatory requirement in advance of the regulation for December 18th.
The FMCSA has pushed for this electronic logging essentially to prevent drivers cheating with the paper logs. The way it works is that the device will link to a truck’s engine and will capture the movement of the truck and give precise details on how many hours a driver is at the wheel.The FMCSA also reckons that ELDs will be beneficial in other ways too.
Thumbs Up for Electronic Logging
The accident rate will come down because exhausted drivers who have done their full quota of hours on the road, will be off the roads taking a break.
The American Trucking Associations, with good reason, has given the thumbs up for this federal mandate, saying they were looking forward to its implementation.
