After months of planning, waiting, hoping, and fretting, the ELD mandate has gone into effect. While many fleets — as high as 35%, according to data from C.J. Driscoll and Associates — waited until the 11th hour to implement electronic loggings devices (ELDs), this same data set indicated that as many as 25% of fleets are planning to put off implementing an ELD solution as long as possible.
Although fleets are now required to have their trucks equipped with either a certified ELD or automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently announced that it wouldn’t be placing non-compliant vehicles out of service until April, giving fleets and their drivers at first glance a seemingly extended compliance window. But that isn’t exactly the case —fleets aren’t getting a full pass for not complying.
Fleets may still be able to keep their vehicles in service, but will face other expensive consequences —fines. Starting at $1,100, fines quickly escalate under the FMCSA’s violation schedule to up to $10,000 per incident, and could cost fleets hundreds of thousands of dollars or more depending on the size of the fleet.
Fleets may be avoiding what they perceive as an inconvenience and a headache by not implementing an ELD solution, but the consequences of the unnecessary expense of punishing fines makes further delaying implementation of an ELD solution costly and potentially ruinous, and cost far more than the price of an ELD solution. Implementing an ELD may result in short-term challenges, but the long-term benefits outweigh the negatives by far.
There is no escaping implementing an ELD. After April — unless there is a further extension of the out-of-service grace period, which seems unlikely — fleets that haven’t implemented an ELD (or AOBRD) will have no choice. Even if they are still willing to absorb the fines, when the ELD mandate is fully enforced, along with the escalating fines, drivers will also be cited with points against their CSA scores and, most critical, vehicles will be placed out of service, making it impossible for fleets to carry out their business until they implement an ELD solution.
If you are one of the 25% who are holding out implementing an ELD solution, don’t. The reason is simple; it makes good business sense to equip your company’s vehicles with an ELD solution.
No matter the solution you choose, there is one thing you shouldn’t do — continue delaying implementation.