Paul Hamilton of Cal Freight recently held a meeting to discuss how ELDs can be used to ensure compliance with California wage and labor laws.
Hamilton is the director of transportation for Ripon, a California-based trucking company, which operates a fleet of 130 trucks. They have been transitioning from paper logs to electronic logging devices since March 2017. According to Hamilton, the ELD data not only helps them stay compliant with the federal hours-of-service rules but the information that ELDs provide also keep them compliant with the State’s wage and labor laws.
How?
With the help of electronic logging devices, California-based trucking companies can make sure that drivers are being compensated for all the time they spend on duty. It also includes accounting for non-productive activities, such as inspecting equipment, refueling, waiting for dispatch, etc. Commercial drivers should be compensated for all these activities.
California state laws also require companies to provide 30-minute meal breaks every 5 hours and 10-minute rest breaks for every 4 hours on duty. State laws also require companies to compensate their workers if they decide not to use those breaks.
Since CalFreight recently changed its driver compensation from per-mile rate to a more “hybrid” plan that pays drivers a flat rate of $12 per hour and a per-mile bonus, the company has to track every minute and mile for accurate calculation. It is crucial for accurately calculating each driver’s pay. According to Paul Hamilton, “it would be a nightmare keeping track of all the information on handwritten, paper logs.”
Apart from compliance with Federal and State laws, Hamilton says that electronic logging devices also help with scheduling and planning as fleet managers can see the remaining time on drivers’ hours-of-service clocks in real-time by monitoring fleet dashboards.
With this information, Paul Hamilton says, “we can tell [drivers] what they can do and can’t do, as opposed to them telling us. This also helps us become more efficient in scheduling and planning.”
He further added, “I think ELDs gave us a shot in the arm to push quicker. Once you have data in an electronic format, you do not ever want to transfer it into a manual, static Excel spreadsheet. We are trying to build processes for every division to keep the data dynamic.”
Read: California smog check rules for fleet vehicles.
The many benefits of electronic logging devices
Electronic logging devices have several benefits. Apart from compliance with the ELD mandate, ELDs also provide valuable information, data, and insights that fleet managers can utilize to comply with other regulations, improve efficiency, and minimize operational costs.
Electronic logging devices also help with reducing fuel wastage, decreasing administrative burdens and the costs associated with them, streamlining communication, improving scheduling and planning.
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