An electronic logging device (ELD) is a solution for commercial drivers that collects data about hours of service (HoS) from commercial motor vehicles. ELDs are now mandatory for most commercial drivers who operate in the US. These automated devices record data about the vehicle and driver, including engine health, HoS, vehicle location and movement, and the number of miles driven within a given period.
ELDs offer a host of benefits to drivers and field service-based companies. These benefits include increased commercial driver safety, simplification of the HoS and records of duty status (RODS) data collection process, and the reduction of physical paperwork for fleet managers, drivers, and technicians.
When ELDs are not used properly, either intentionally or in error, the driver may face violations and fines. Additionally, violations will affect compliance, safety, and accountability (CSA) scores for the entire fleet. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons this might happen and how to avoid such violations.
Congress passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act in 2012. The ELD mandate that was a part of this act went into full effect on December 16, 2019, making it mandatory for every commercial motor vehicle operator to monitor and maintain their HoS and RODS with an ELD.
With this ELD law now in place, a list of violations and their descriptions became publicly available to all fleet managers and drivers by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with "soft enforcement" through April of 2018. Now that soft enforcement has ended, all fleet vehicle operators must know these violations and their severity levels.
Some of the most common violations to know about and understand include:
For a more complete list, see What You Need to Know About ELD Violation Fines.
Because of ELD requirements, each of these violations is assigned a different severity level as determined by the FMSCA. Severity levels have a number value ranging between one and five points per violation. These points are weighed against the commercial driver's license when they are ticketed with any one of these violations. They are also factored into the company’s CSA score. It is critically important to understand ELD violations to avoid making these errors and being caught by law enforcement.
It's important to understand that non-compliance with the ELD mandate (and accruing fines associated with the violations above) will impact your CSA score. Scores of this nature are like golf scores — the lower, the better, with 100 being the worst.
Notably, your customers may review your CSA score to determine whether they want to conduct business with you. But if that is not enough to encourage you to maintain compliance and a low CSA score, the fines associated with CSA violations probably will. Some of the penalties associated with non-compliance include:
With all of this said, the average ELD fine associated with improperly logging HoS is about $2,867. Clearly, the cost of CSA violations can add up for any field service-based business — and these do not even include the fines you can incur for Department of Transportation (DOT) fines.
To avoid CSA fines and other fines associated with improper use of (or lack of) ELDs, consider the ELD options from Azuga. In addition to bringing you state-of-the-art eLogs for your drivers and technicians, Azuga also offers dual-facing dashcams for your fleet vehicles to keep your operators safe on the road.
When you pair eLogs and dashcams with our comprehensive field service management software, you'll have total visibility into your fleet. You’ll know what is happening with every one of your drivers at any point in the day as needed, including their exact location, pinpointed with GPS fleet tracking.
Dispatch software is a lifesaver when it comes to organizing your dispatch process and keeping operations streamlined. It offers a variety of features that make daily procedures so much easier, from fleet tracking to reports that help businesses make decisions. What features does dispatch software offer, and how do these features benefit fleets? We will break this down for you.
It is easy to assign and monitor jobs with dispatch software because it uses fleet tracking. Fleet tracking allows you to assign jobs to crews in the field. If you need a lead technician for a job, it’s simple to attach that lead tech to any job you need. You can even sort jobs based on their status, whether they’re one-time, recurring, or multi-day, or based on urgency.
When workers finish jobs, they can mark the job as complete on their end. This way, you can know when each job concludes and when your technician moves on to their next task.
Back and forth calls between technicians and managers are no longer a problem. With dispatch software, you simply input the job you want your technicians to address. Your technicians access it from their phones and know what to do from there. When they’re done, they can mark it complete and view their next job right away. They can track their time, update their schedules, and input notes all while on the go. Everything you need to know will be on your screen when you need to know it, no need to track the information down.
Dispatch software can improve your business’s customer service reputation in a variety of ways. Firstly, GPS tracking allows for route optimization software, which gets your technicians to their destinations quickly and efficiently. No more late technicians making your customers wait. Furthermore, dispatch software allows you to assign technicians to customers they already know, building an improved relationship with your business. And with all of your customer information in one place, it’s easy to respond to disputes and issues in a timely and personal manner.
All of your client and order information is available in a field service CRM that details everything you need to know about your customers and the jobs you’ve done for them.
Azuga offers state-of-the-art dispatch software that your business is sure to benefit from every single day. These benefits will improve your fleet’s daily operations, boost customer service, and maximize productivity among your workers. These features and more bring your fleet to its maximum potential, allowing you to focus on making important decisions to help the business grow and thrive. Find out everything you can do with dispatch software by trying out a free demo today. You’re certain to be impressed with the improvements.
A multi-drop route planner is a process that plans a route for a driver to make more than two deliveries in multiple locations. It uses vehicle routing software to collect and analyze thousands of data points and determine the best delivery route. This route planning software can plan, re-route, and reschedule without causing any danger to the driver, environment, or business. It considers many factors, such as the number of distribution centers, warehouses, or residential areas a driver has to visit, resource availability, and driver safety.
The route optimization software tracks the vehicle while factoring in when deliveries need to arrive. Of course, a human being should ensure that everything has been planned out properly, but the process should be automatic. Both this person and the system should look at distances, travel time, and fuel consumption.
Once a route is set, the route optimization software compiles data to choose the best vehicle and driver depending on the delivery. It uses data based on the route and the client’s needs. At this point, it also considers the driver’s hours and weather conditions to determine how much time is needed. These systems need to work in real-time to ensure that managers and clients can connect with up-to-date information.
There are various benefits to multi-drop route planning. It maximizes productivity, keeps fuel costs low, promotes driver safety, and helps businesses stay compliant with federal driver hour regulations. Your business will save money by using its drivers effectively and not using as much fuel.
If you’re looking for this software, you don’t need to search any further! Azuga’s route optimization software allows for multiple stops. It provides the best routes based on historical data, traffic conditions, weather conditions, and machine learning that helps it create the best routes for you in real-time. See what you can do with route planning software by trying out a demo today!
If you manage a fleet, you probably already understand the delicate dance that is fleet dispatching. If not, you may not realize just how crucial this process is to the success of any fleet-based business.
Simply put, fleet dispatching is the process by which commercial fleet drivers are sent out into the field to make deliveries, service customers, and handle other business-related tasks. But it involves so much more than simply telling drivers, “you go there.” Good fleet dispatching may also involve considerations for traffic conditions, road hazards, driver skill sets, customer preferences, and onboard equipment. When done correctly, it’s a skillful juggling act that helps a business reach its daily goals. When poorly handled, it can be a disaster for all concerned.
A fleet dispatcher is a person in charge of scheduling and arranging dispatch for a commercial fleet. Small fleets may have a single dispatcher to manage all calls, while larger enterprise fleets may employ an entire team.
A fleet dispatcher must clearly understand schedules and routes, job proficiencies, fuel management, fleet maintenance, and regulations related to hours of service and other fleet compliance issues. A good fleet dispatcher knows the drivers in the fleet well and can anticipate their scheduling needs and which jobs they are most suited to handle. Fleet dispatchers must be masters of communication and have elite organizational skills.
Fleet dispatching is as much an art as a science, and it can be overwhelming at times. The best way to support the fleet dispatchers on your team is to give them tools and technology that make the job easier. Fortunately, Azuga offers the answers to all of your fleet dispatching conundrums.
Our GPS Fleet Tracking software can keep track of all the vehicles in your fleet along with large equipment and other assets. Dispatchers can use this information to see which vehicles are nearby when a job pops up. What’s more, we offer top-notch route optimization tools to help guide drivers around road construction, accidents, and other hazards that might prevent them from getting to their destination on time. We can even help you schedule routine maintenance, promote road safety, and automatically deliver dispatch notifications to drivers in the field.
Learn about all the ways Azuga Fleet can help your commercial fleet stay productive and efficient while simplifying maintenance schedules and creating a culture of safety on the road. Schedule an Azuga demo today!
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