There are only a few weeks left before the ELD mandate becomes mandatory for commercial drivers. However, there is still a large number of fleets that haven’t installed electronic logging devices.

According to a survey of 1,600 fleets by CarrierLists, only 37% fleets have implemented compliant ELD solutions.

CarrierLists President and Founder Kelvin Hill said the number is “shockingly low.” However, Hill added that the figure is a‘significant increase’ from early October, when only 23% of fleets were compliant or moving towards ELD implementation.

Most large carriers have installed electronic logging devices, but smaller fleets and owner-operators are lagging behind in ELD implementation.

According to the American Trucking Association (ATA), 97.2% of all fleet owners operate fewer than 20 trucks. The figure shows that most of the trucking companies operating in America are small fleets.

A small fleet operator, Les Willis, was interviewed and asked why so many smaller fleets are late when it comes to ELD mandate implementation. He told that the main reason for the delay is the cost associated with installing and maintaining ELDs.

Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) claims that the total annual cost of ELD per truck is $495, Les Willis argues that smaller carriers pay more. He said the total cost of complying with the ELD mandate is $1.5 billion. Of that, he said, $1.3 billion is to be borne by smaller fleets. 

At Motive, we understand the struggles of owner-operators and smaller carriers. It’s why we designed an affordable, feature-rich ELD solution for fleets of all sizes. Apart from being FMCSA-registered, the Motive ELD solution has useful fleet management features that can help minimize operational costs and maximize profitability.

For instance, Motive offers an idle-time tracking feature. Fleet managers can use this to identify drivers who idle for too long or too frequently. For a truck that consumes $70,000 worth of fuel every year, approximately $5,600 is wasted on idling.

Assuming that you have 20 trucks in your fleet, you are looking at $112,000 in wasted fuel every year unless you have a system to minimize vehicle idling.

The Motive ELD solution also has other features that can help you save money. For example:

  • With GPS tracking and vehicle location history, you can identify the safest and shortest routes to manage your fleet more efficiently and save extra fuel.
  • With driver scorecards, you can identify drivers who have bad driving habits (hard acceleration, hard cornering, and hard braking). According to experts, if drivers drive at 55 mph, instead of 65 mph, they consume 20% less fuel.
  • The Motive ELD can also notify drivers as well as fleet managers for any upcoming HOS violations. Fewer violations mean less penalties to pay. Moreover, it also improves the CSA scores, which means more clients and better business opportunities.

ELD Supply Shortage

The fact that more than 60% fleets still haven’t installed compliant ELDs is dangerous for everyone.

As the deadline grows closer, there will be an “ELD rush”.

Truckers would be rushing to get electronic logging devices, but it is expected that they won’t get any. According to industry experts, an ELD supply shortage is highly likely in the next few weeks.

Make sure you are fully prepared before then.

Request a free Motive ELD demo now and get started today.