Tracking solutions remain popular even in down economy

You have to be careful reading reports, because the terms tracking, communications, and GPS are all used incorrectly at times. However, the fact remains that some form of onboard telematics for many fleets is a way of doing business, simply because it pays back and has become an integral part of doing business for many fleets.

The Driscoll Report, referenced this week in Fleet Owner, is evidence of that.

GPS Tracking and Enforcement Audits

There is an interesting article at http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=21827
about using GPS records during hours of service audits.

The author makes the point that enforcement would actually be more fair with an EOBR mandate.

Interested in reading more about EOBR's? You can find two free white papers at www.gpsgateway.com. The first is written by Qualcomm's Dave Kraft, the second is written by Joel Beal from Gateway Professional Services.

The Electronic Onboard Recorder (EOBR) proposal is sleeping, but not dead.

Ray LaHood's Comments to the ATA

Safety is important; saving lives and preventing injuries is also good business. The new Secretary of Trasnprotation, Ray LaHood, spoke to the American Trucking Associations's board of directors on February 24th. We all know that the Secretary's job is not to help us make money. However, there are some interesting ideas thoughts presented. Here are a few:

“In each of the past three years, our nation has achieved significant decreases in the number of large truck-related fatalities."

“I am troubled that last year, nearly 73,000 trucking jobs were lost,” LaHood said. “In the third quarter of 2008 alone, 785 trucking companies with a combined fleet of about 39,000 trucks went out of business.”

“We want to make sure it (the EOBR rule) is the best rule we can possibility put out.”

Safety, technology, and emerging as a stronger company are all related.

What will you do when the recession ends?

I was talking with a fleet owner yesterday. He indicated to me that this is the third recession he has been through as a businessman. In each of the two previous recessions, he picked up considerable business when the recession ended. He did things to increase operational efficiency and took advantage of increased demand and reduced supply when the economy turned back up. Theoretically that sounds good, but when a person puts his own money on the line - that means something. I pay a lot more attention to fleet owners than I do economists.

Today I was reading an article on Fleet Owner's web site that said the same thing about two much larger companies - UPS and FedEx. You can read the entire article at http://fleetowner.com/green/ups-fedex-economic-downturn-0204/index1.html.

If you anticipate staying in business, are you doing what's necessary to implement technologies to increase your efficiency and reduce your operating costs? It's worth looking at. Check out what a little increased fuel economy can do for you with this online calculator - http://www.loadtrek.net/loadtrek_net/FuelEconomy.aspx.

New Administration, Same EOBR Rule?

This is the first full day of work for President Obama. Of interest to truckers is the new administration's stance on electronic DOT logs, EOBR's, and the role of technology in highway safety and reducing gridlock.

We know that President Obama has selected Peter Orszag as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Orszag is young (younger than me), well-educated, and is best known as the former director of the Congressional Budget Office who is also a literate and prolific blogger. He enjoys wide bipartisan support, and his nomination will clear Congress easily.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the liaison between the President's administration and the federal bureaucracy. It is the final stop for a proposed regulation. it is really the final and only real system of checks and balances for regulations that federal agencies create.

We know that the 395.16 NPRM is left at the OMB by the outgoing Bush administration. The new OMB may pass it along as written, change it, delay it, or even send it back to the FMCSA.

We also know that President Obama has promised to apply technology and infrastructure improvements to reduce our dependence on oil - and EOBR's are certainly a part of that. Obama enjoyed the support of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters during the election, and the Teamsters are opposed to any EOBR regulation.

I have never been a fan of regulatory encroachment into the way we run our businesses. However, here are a few things to consider. EOBR's improve safety and have a definable and measurable payback. EOBR's could play a very significant role in a technology network reducing traffic congestion - also reducing fuel consumption and pollution. EOBR's can assist a carrier in negotiating with overbearing shippers who demand schedules that are too tight.

Onboard Recorder Rule is going to Wait

It looks like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will not publish their final rule expanding the use of EOBR's before President Bush leaves office.

"I don't know if we are going to get it out or not; it doesn't look like we are making progress at this point," Federal Motor Carrier Safety administrator John Hill said Thursday.

That certainly does not mean it is dead. In 2008 a group of Senators introduced legislation that would mandate the use of EOBR's. The NTSB has stepped up their campaign to mandate the use of EOBR's. Finally, the incoming administration of President-Elect Obama can certainly publish the new EOBR rule as well.

What is my return on investment?

Let's discuss why onboard technology can and does pay for itself - provided it's the right technology and it's managed. My first experience with obtaining an return on investment with onboard technology happened back in 1990 at a company in Dallas then known as Chemical Express Carriers. Using our early (and by today's standards antiquated) onboard computer system - we achieved a 12 month return on investment with our 550 trucks at 29 terminals.

The main payback is fuel economy. Even with electronically controlled engines, the driver is the difference.

"The driver is arguably the principal variable in fuel mileage. There is as much as a 35 percent different between the most proficient and least capable drivers" - The Fleet Manager's Guide to Fuel Economy, The Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Association.

How do you affect fuel economy? The average truck wastes 2196 gallons per year idling according to the Agronne National Lab. You can be assured that an idling truck engine burns a minimum 1 gallon per hour idle, without A/C or other engine load.

For every 1 MPH increase over 55 MPH, fuel consumption increases 2.2%. This means that 7.5 MPH at 55 MPH drops to 6.6 MPG at 65 MPH.

Rapid accelerations and decelerations. It's simple physics. You burn fuel getting that mass rolling - and then you scrub off that energy every time you hit the brakes.

Let's talk emissions. 10 MPH speed reduction reduces diesel engine NOX emissions by 18%. Idling by commercial trucks releases an estimated 10,000,000 tons of CO2, 50,000 tons of NOX, and 2,000 tons of particulates.

Fuel economy has a direct relation to vehicle wear. Increase in speed from 55 MPH to 65 MPH increases tire wear 5% to 16%, depending on weight. Increase in speed from 55 MPH to 65 MPH decreases miles to engine overhaul by 10% to 15%. Increase in speed from 55 MPH to 65 MPH increases oil consumption 15%. Idling for 6 hours = 42 miles of engine wear.

Will proper planning and execution of your dispatch and routing help your fleet utilization? An average of 42% of a fleet's operating costs is in vehicle depreciation. Intelligent routing and dispatching maximizes vehicle utilization and minimizes distance traveled.

You can find a simple, online fuel savings calculator at http://www.loadtrek.net/loadtrek_net/FuelEconomy.aspx.

This is an interesting subject. Let me know what you think.

Informative White Paper on Paperless Drivers' Logs

Electronic DOT logs can seem to be a mystery, which I find interesting when you consider they have been out for 20 years. I think that at times people over-complicate the subject just to satisfy their ego or to make the product they are pushing appear superior to competitive offerings. Whatever the case, paperless logs are an important component of automation initiatives in many progressive fleets.

Here is a free white paper that explains paperless DOT drivers logs that comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations found in CFR 49 395.15, as well as Canadian Public Safety Code 9.

Check it out: http://www.loadtrek.net/loadtrek_net/articlecontent.aspx?fld=articles&item=HOS_white_Paper.htm

Fleet Technology's Future

Where are we heading? If you are a fleet manager or involved with fleet technology - a glimpse of the future came this past week at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Concerned primarily with traffic congestion and the role of various types of highway transportation modes using the nation's highways, there are insights to be learned and money to be saved.

When you dispatch a truck, would you like to route the truck based on current and forecast traffic levels? How valuable would it be for a driver to actively know alternative routes to bypass congestion? Would you like to proactively revise routes in progress to react to traffic flow and still meet customer needs? The obvious answer is yes.

What is this all worth to a fleet? Instead of costing your fleet by the mile, determine your cost per hour and I will bet you'll find it costs $1/minute to keep your class 8 truck on the road. Every minute your trucks are delayed costs you money.

Commercial drivers are restricted to 14 hours consecutive on duty time before they must take a break. If a driver starts his day at 0400, that driver must take a 10 hour break at 1600. Keeping the driver rolling is imperative to the bottom line of the driver and the company.

For those of you not interested in hypotheticals and who do not have time to waste thinking about technology that is not affordable or not available - I have good news. Every component to create such a system is commercially available today. These systems are literally right around the corner. And, do not look to your big companies to bring these systems to market first. It will be the smaller companies who leverage currently available open systems.

HOS Regulations to Stay

Eight years of legal battles are over - the hours of service regulations are going to stay. The FMCSA this morning released their final rule concerning commercial drivers' hours of service regulations - section 395.

John Hill, FMCSA administrator said "There have been procedural rules that have been identified by the court. We are properly addressing the concerns of the court, I feel confident that moving forward is the best public policy at this time.”

Drivers, shippers, carriers, and enforcement officers do not have to learn yet another set of rules. In my opinion, that is good news.

We have one more ruling we are waiting on regarding hours of service, the revision to the twenty year old electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) regs.

New Hours of Service allowed driving and rest periods?

The US Court of Appeals back in July of 2007 tossed out certain parts of the "new" commercial drivers hours of service provisions - provisions we have all gotten quite used to. In the case of regular route carriers (many private fleets, postal fleets, and LTL carriers) entire terminal systems were reconfigured. The court responded to a lawsuit, and specifically objected to the increase of allowed driving time from 10 hours per shift to 11 hours per shift, and to the 34 hour restart of the cumulative hours (70 in 8 days or 60 in 7 days).

However, it is important to note that the ruling was tossed because of procedural reasons. The court did not see that the FMCSA actually did what Congress asked it to do back in 2002 - scientifically prove the affect of the hours of service regulations on drivers' health. The court did not toss the rule based on the rule itself. This is important - and why I believe that the rule will not be changed but that there will be proof that these rules changes improve drivers' health.

We'll soon see if I am right. Back in October the agency sent the final rule to the White House OMB. The White House is very adamant about getting the final rule out by the end of this year. Will the final rule that is approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget be the same? As I mentioned, I bet it is the same as this "interim" rule we are operating under now. And will this new rule be challenged again in the courts? Will Congress step in - something that neither party has shown a willingness to do since 2002? We may see by the end of the year.

And by the way, the HOS fun is not over. There is a new ruling on EOBR's that is rumored to be out around the end of the year as well. This new rule, if it is like the proposal (Notice of Proposed Rule making 395.16) will mean substantial technology changes.

The Case for Adopting an EOBR Now

Although they’ve only recently hit the news in a big way, electronic onboard recorders have been approved for use in lieu of handwritten records in the United States and Canada for 20 years. EOBRs, as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration calls them, produce paperless electronic truck-driver logs compliant with the federal hours-of-service rules.

EOBR’s were first approved for use in October 1988. In the past twenty years, various groups have called for mandating EOBR use in the name of highway safety. And while it’s almost a Pavlovian reaction for any group, including truckers, to take a negative view of any technology advocated by a vocal pressure group, the fact is that thousands of fleets have adopted EOBRs — even though their use remains voluntary and they are not inexpensive.

Why do fleets spend money on onboard technology? The answer is simple: Fleets implement technology when it increases their returns through increased safety, higher revenue miles, lower operating costs or all of the above. Onboard computers perform many functions that affect the bottom line, only one of which is the ability to keep paperless logs.

It’s not bad public relations, either. Safety and the public’s perception of commercial vehicles and the trucking industry go hand in hand, particularly in the case of an accident. The implementation of an onboard computer system, including an EOBR, creates the positive impression that a company cares about safety and is committed to giving its drivers a reasonable and legal work schedule.

Onboard computers that measure driving performance give the driver feedback on critical driving habits that directly influence safety and fuel efficiency. And an EOBR makes it easier to measure hours-of-service compliance, providing the tools to adjust dispatch schedules with greater efficiency.

It’s also worth noting that this type of professional onboard environment has been shown to improve driver retention — a somewhat surprising development, given all the warnings that drivers confronted with EOBRs and other such onboard devices would simply walk away and find another profession.

A recent survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization affiliated with American Trucking Associations, noted, “Motor carriers using EOBRs have not experienced the negative impacts on driver retention expected by the motor carrier nonusers.”

Perhaps the drivers are simply happy to hand over the perpetual headache of recordkeeping. Increasingly complex U.S. and Canadian rules, especially those regarding sleeper-berth provisions and shorthaul operations, increase the burden on carriers and drivers to keep their logs accurate. With every concession, exemption or exception for a segment of industry, hours-of-service rules become harder to understand and calculate. Drivers and fleet operators are under increasing pressure to comply as the repercussions of noncompliance become harsher for all concerned. In this environment, shifting clerical tasks away from drivers has become a proven “best practice.”

According to the ATRI study, 19% of fleets that use EOBRs report an increase in driver retention and 76% report increased driver morale after they implemented these devices. No fleets reported lower driver retention after implementing an EOBR.

FMCSA estimates that drivers using electronic logs spend 20 minutes less per day filling out paperwork than drivers using paper logs. However, many fleets report greater time savings with paperless logs, especially with the most recent sleeper-berth rules. Properly preparing handwritten logs is time-consuming, difficult and displaces part of the driver’s focus on the real job. Also, more drivers are entering the job market without any previous connection to the trucking industry. Teaching them about today’s hours-of-service rules is hard work.

How does EOBR technology work? The fleet chooses the specific hours-of-service rule they use. This allows the system to operate within the six- or seven-day cycle, intrastate or interstate, applying proper exemptions and exceptions. The driver indicates the beginning and end of work periods by electing on-duty and off-duty status. The EOBR calculates distance, determines location at each change of status and keeps track of worked and available hours.

Fleets can elect to automatically warn drivers when they are in danger of exceeding allowable time and when they have exceeded allowable time. Whenever the vehicle is stopped, drivers can look up a detailed daily log or a summary recap of hours.

Back at the office, the truck communicates via several different methods, from satellite to terrestrial wireless, Wi-Fi hotspots to memory cards. Carriers can review logs current up to the last synchronization. More important, carriers can instantly review who is in and out of compliance, plus plan dispatch schedules, without reviewing each individual log or relying on manually created recaps or summaries.

Although rumors have circulated for years that electronic logs are going to be federally mandated, trucking has not waited for the government to act. Lower-cost, easier-use, and more reliable technology that increases fleet safety has been adopted without government intervention. So instead of waiting to install a government-mandated, static technology, when it is forced on the trucking industry, consider voluntarily adopting a known — and improving — technology now.