Episode 23: How to Use“Keep Truckin” and ELD Cheat Sheet!

In the current bullish trucking market, safety is essential to grow your fleet, gain good insurance rates, and prepare in a bearish climate. In this week’s episode our Freight Guru, Luis Lopez which ELD is better for local last-mile/ container drayage and over-the-road transport.

Listen to the Full Episode Here

What is ELD

ELD is an Electronic Logging Device to alert drivers before a Hours of Service (HOS) restriction violation occurs.

HOS violations used to be the main reason for creating ELD mandates that require commercial drivers to keep a “Record of Duty Status.” These mandates were transitioned from paper logs into electronic logging devices in 2017 to maintain a more efficient way to manage driver hours.

“A driver should be familiar with HOS restrictions, but should also be able to rely on a good ELD system that alerts them before a violation occurs. Avoiding violations can save a fleet time and money.” That is why we; provide you with a way to keep your drivers updated using our ELD Cheat Sheet.

What are the Main ELD Mandates?

To grow your fleet and scale in the trucking market, you know that to maintain affordable insurance rates for next year you have to be following DOT safety requirements.

Make sure that your drivers, dispatchers, and safety compliance department are issuing warnings and driver deductions for not meeting ELD mandates, especially HOS.

Driving Cycles

One of the ELD mandates that correlate with HOS restrictions is the dring cycle; they depend on how many days of the week your carrier operates.

70-hour/8-day cycle: If the carrier operates every day of the week, you are eligible to operate under this mandate, limiting a driver to 70 on-duty hours over any 8-day period.

60-hour/7-day cycle: You are eligible for this mandate if your carrier operates less than 7 days a week. It limits a driver to 60 on-duty hours over any 7-day window.

TIP-These limitations are based on a “rolling” or “floating” 7 or 8-day period, to not limit your fleet to a Sunday through Saturday schedule not applicable to your business needs.

HOS Restrictions:

34-Hour Restart: The most up-to-date requirement and it’s mandatory. The restart consists of taking 34 consecutive “hours off-duty” to begin a new driving cycle.

TIP: Keep in mind that the restriction still applies even if you have not worked the full 60 to 70 hour work week, once you take a 34-hour restart all of your hours are made available again.

14-Hour Rule: “When a driver comes on-duty after taking at least 10 consecutive hours off-duty, he or she has a 14-hour window to complete driving for the day. Although driving is not permitted after the 14th hour, other work-related tasks may still be performed.”

30 Minute Break: No driving is allowed after any 8-hour on-duty period until a driver has taken the mandatory 30-minute off-duty break. The FMCSA does not enforce the 30-minute off-duty break for any driver who qualifies for the short-haul operations exceptions and a select few others.

Sleeper Berth Extension: allows drivers to extend their 14-hour window without taking the required 10 hours off-duty. When logging at least 8 hours (no more than 10 hours) a driver can effectively freeze the 14-hour clock.

Split Sleeper Berth: allows drivers to split the required 10-hour off-duty break into two shifts. One of those shifts must be between 8 and 10 hours, “spent entirely in the sleeper.” The second shift can be between 2 and 8 hours and completed in the sleeper berth, off-duty, or as a combination of sleeper berth and off-duty.

The Best ELDs for Over the Road and Local Last-Mile

Three factors that go into selecting a good ELD and GPS tracking company are good API integrations, good customer service, and affordable costs. Here are two top companies for ELD.

Over the Road

One of the best ELDs for over the road that Luis recommends is Keep Truckin for over-the-road trucking. The application keeps track of your fleet’s drivers, assets, and trucks. It’s user-friendly and has API integrations making onboarding and other administrative tasks easy to manage. A key factor that made it top of our list is its portable tracking units.

If you are needing to lease a truck or it breaks down, you can easily move the device from one vehicle to another. It makes the experience seamless. It tracks telematics like tire pressure, safety codes, and much more to keep your safety department up to date.

It also integrates easily with most TMS systems like TruckHub a free mileage calculator connecting shippers, brokers, and drivers for any load and any tuck on our website FreightGuru.io

Check out our Keep Truckin Step-by-Step Guide

Last Mile or Short Haul

One of the best ELDs Luis recommends for short-haul is GPS insight. This ELD is very easy to use especially with older equipment, and they have multi-tenant capabilities. In other words, you can use it for multiple companies in one portal.

One of their key features includes easy reporting i.e. gas millage of all of your trucks and vans, Also, their communication and customer service are exemplary. However, GPS Insight’s units need to be installed or bolted down to the steering wheel or under the driver’s seat compared to Keep Truckin’s tracking units.

Despite this feature, the portal has a lot more quality features like accurately depicting landmarks, inputting multiple DOT numbers, and much more that makes the program worth wild for building a daily process for efficient management practices.