ELDs have been the most polarizing subject in the freight markets over the past few years. The large enterprise carriers have wanted them to ensure that every carrier followed the same set of rules. Smaller owner-operators and voice freight brokers felt as if ELDs were government encroachment into their lives. The fear of big-brother monitoring every move is more emotional than reality, but the economic impacts are real.
One of the things that we have been watching intently is whether or not ELDs impact behavior. First with the carriers and then with shippers and brokers. The impact on shippers and brokers will show up in two data-sets: the TRI (tender rejection index) and in rates (spot and contract). We know from our rate sources (DAT, Cass, and public carrier reports) that there has been a dramatic inflation environment in contract rates. Until the last two weeks, the spot market was stabilizing as shippers were benefiting from better capacity planning.
But one of the things that we have been curious about is how carriers are reacting to the mandate. Are we seeing a change in driver behavior? Nearly 60 days into the hard mandate, we can see that is the case. By looking at what we call the “HOS Daily Driving Utilization Index” or HOS11, we look at ELD data and determine how much of driver’s 11 hours are dedicated to actually putting miles on a truck. We gather millions of HOS data points every single day from a couple hundred thousand ELD devices, anonymize them, and publish them on our SONAR dashboard.
Last year, prior to the ELD soft-mandate, we saw that drivers were averaging around 6.52 hours per day of driving time. The ELD soft-mandate went into effect on December 16, but with it being so close to the holidays, it is hard to get an accurate read on the impact until mid-January. We saw we describe as the “Post Holiday Normalization” take place on January 14. You can see that the total driving hours went back to around 6.52 hours per day. This stayed consistent until Valentine’s day, when we started to see drivers start to modify their behavior and increase hours dedicated to driving. We believe this is a reflection of drivers starting to think about the hard mandate on April first and change on what freight they selected and how they managed their hours.
Moving forward into the hard mandate in April, we see that there is a distinct change in driver behavior. Throughout April, drivers started to push further towards 7 hours of daily driving time, at least three days a week. Every Tuesday-Thursday, drivers are exceeding 6.8 hrs of daily driving time and going tapping out at 7 hours per day. We estimate that each hour is worth approximately $112 (based on a 7 hour clock), therefore drivers are recovering approximately $54 of additional earnings per day from proper HOS management. For an industry with 860,000 for-hire trucks, this equates to $231 million dollars per week or $12 billion dollars annually of additional value generated by ELD devices to the industry as a whole.
Laine Parkinson
i have been running trucks for 40 years and this has to be the biggest crock of horseshit i have ever heard.
Billy Bigrigger
I sit here an read the tirade after tirade of grown adults spewing anger at something designed to simplify HOS
tracking and enforcement. A few of you mention that you are now working harder to maximize your daily HOS because of the ELD mandate. Newsflash angry drivers! HOS didn’t change. You had a 14 hour clock ticking all the time while logging on paper. A computer now tracks when you vehicle is in motion, and records the appropriate duty status. Same thing you had to do while on paper, right? So what’s the big deal? I’ll tell you… it keeps you honest. Those that are complaining (with colorful language) about how ELDs changed their lives for the worse, are basically the reason we now have the mandate. They can no longer mask their shady (non-compliant) logging practices with a pencil and eraser. You must conform to federal standards for the first time in their lives. Welcome to world of compliance in you chosen industry. If you don’t like it, do something about it. Be where happy is for you.
As for the article’s assumption that this would increase driver pay/productivity, I’d have to agree with the masses below. It has done very little in that regard, and is misleading. It feels more like fake news designed to spin a positive narrative on something the vocal minority despise.
Twinx
You are an uneducated person, probably never finished higher math much aless sifting through the BS FMCSA puts in a report. I’d gladly take these reports on as I am an expert in this field. Retired DOD , Ph.D I Drive with my husband. If you believe ELD keep You honest your the only one that needs it. O/O leased to a company familial with Panther they charge $35 per week for ELD better known as jail ankle bracelet for uneducated bookkeeper’s who can’t read paper logs and tracking device ( your not an enagered species)
After 24 years of my husband behind the wheel, me 4, no violations, accidents
Tell me why so many made it so far without ELD ? Statistical Analyst
Welly
Troll
Mark Morris
Hmmmm. I don’t think Matt did his research. The only thing this article showed was that the ELDs were doing what everyone expected them to do… do better job of tracking actual time spent on duty and driving. No additional driving time was achieved just by adding an electronic device. The drive time has always been there. The difference is that it was not tracked so precisely in the past. If you are going to produce an article with such a dramatic claim (12 billion dollars???) you should make sure you know exactly what you are talking about. I believe this article is very unfair and deceiving and at the worst, illegitimate.
William Clint
that is the most uneducated and ignorant reporting a fake made up news I’m not interested in what Freight ways believes I’m interested in fact and figures the trumped-up bull to support their View a sarcastic thank you I never feel Dumber for having read it
Laura
Matt Wimberly.. I really think you need to base your stats on the Drivers themselves, not based upon your stats of Computers and Technology. Obviously the commercial trucks do not drive themselves. I really hope after this under lying inaccurate report that you do take the time to interview the actual drivers. Let alone, these new devices and changes per the Government have upset these drivers, your artical is so inaccurate that you have just made them even more angrier. Here is my brothers comment regarding your articulate. As you read, please remind your self this is coming from a owner operator of over 35 years…
Bullshit !
The money isn’t in the truckers pocket , it’s in the brokers and these big companies pockets , also they have made us run a lot harder than ever , that’s very dangerous, look at it this way, if a power plant wasn’t producing enough power to the cities they would turn up the power right ? Well sooner or later the motor is going to blow up from over working it. We the Drivers are already seeing more wrecks because everyone is under pressure, furthermore, everyone better start watching what’s going on, because prices are starting to rise, and for anyone that thinks I’m stupid, no it doesn’t benefit me with higher rates. I pay more for fuel, tires, and repairs, so don’t play me for stupid and tell me it will benefit us, bullshit !
Alex
Tha article is a paid cover up for those who decided to torture the whole segment of working class people – truck drivers. Ok, now you put shackles on the truck drivers hands. Who is next.
Andy
Exactly my thoughts reflected in all the comments! You’re an idiot if you believe a word of this article. There’s no way the eld will add any money to a driver’s pocket, no matter how much you idiots lie and manipulate the "data" to show your point. Get in a truck and try to make a living, than write the truth!
Don
If that’s the case then why had my paycheck been smaller every week that the eld has been i. Force. Yes that’s right smaller not bigger. Also i used to could nap or shop at Wal-Mart for supplies now I can’t do any thing but try to push this trk down the road tired before the stupid 14 hr clock runs out only to try and find a nonexistent parking spot