If you’ve been following the trucking industry for any amount of time, then you are aware of the controversial ELD regulations that were instituted in 2019. While there have been studies and camps on both sides of the fence attempting to discern the pros and cons of the new legislation, it is still very much mixed within the industry as a whole. Like with most regulations, there is always going to be growing pains surrounding the implementation and adoption of said regulations. With that in mind, the significant overarching benefit of the use of the ELD that cannot be overstated is that is forcing carriers to be more conscious of their trucker’s time.

Steve Viscelli, in a recent article, points out that truckers had been self-recording their own time using electronic log devices log before federal legislation. However, self-monitoring did allow truckers to under, over, or misreport their time; a big problem for the industry.  Viscelli, a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, also worked as a trucker for six months to better learn about the stress and strain that the job puts on the trucker. While the ELD regulation is now federally mandated, larger carriers had already adopted electronic logs long before 2018 which means many of the carriers that are lagging weren’t forward thinking initially.

Yes, the ELD is a double-edged sword for any carrier and more specifically their truckers as it makes life both easier and harder simultaneously. As the years go by and the ELD regulations are sorted out and refined so that they get less in the way of the truckers being able to manage their time, sleep, and mileage more efficiently.

To read the original article, click here.