Tag: technology in trucking

Data Standardization

Now that the ELD compliance date is here, along with the general movement toward online data tracking, we can see an increasing need for data standardization in the trucking industry. As a result, there has been a call for a blockchain approach to standardizing the industry’s data. Essentially, blockchains are a way for companies to upload and share their data with ease. The trucking industry is massive, even with the driver shortage, and companies need a way to record transactions and track assets in a cohesive way.

Blockchain is an online ledger that facilitates the process of both recording transactions and tracking assets within a network of businesses and employees. An asset can be something tangible like a truck, or intangible like an insurance requirement. So what a blockchain would do is allow more efficient communication from business to business, as well as from employer to employee. It’s no secret that the trucking industry is wildly inefficient, which leads to safety issues and loss of revenue. It can take hours to set up a single delivery, which frankly, is a waste of time. With blockchain technology, delivery transactions can take mere minutes, meaning that drivers can get on the road quicker. If implemented, shippers, carriers and brokers will be operating on a secure, instantaneous network.

Unlike the ELD mandate, blockchains will not be required or enforced, which unfortunately means that users will have to trust the information that is uploaded. Manufacturers must trust that carriers have the required insurance, and carriers must trust companies to uphold their contracts and pay them. Data standardization is in no way easy, and blockchain is still in its early stages, but the advantages to the program could be instrumental to the success of the industry in the future. Sometime very soon, the entire world will move toward standardization and online data tracking.

If you would like more information on how blockchains work, visit these websites:

Written By: Shayla Powers

Reactions to ELD Ruling

DRIVER HESITANCY ABOUT ELDs

As we approach the second phase of the three-phase compliance time line, there has been increasing hesitancy and even full-blown refusal from those in the trucking industry. Some of the complaints are reasonable: they are worried about the high costs of the logging systems themselves, as well as the upkeep of the devices draining the resources of smaller companies and ultimately putting them out of business. The ELDs can cost anywhere from $160 to $500 and the upkeep depends on the system. If you want more information about those costs, check out this blog I wrote when the initial ruling was made. Some of the other fears, however, can easily be soothed.

The trucking industry is typically very slow to change, and most major compliance rules are met with a lot of initial push back. One concern that emerged following the ELD mandate that has  snowballed within the last few weeks, is the security of the systems themselves in regard an outside person’s ability to hack into them. There are a number of people that are under the belief that because the ELDs are a computer system that monitors the activity of the engine and the brake system, that a hacker can take control of the system from outside of the vehicle. That is not quite true. ELDs, while they do operate on a computer system, do not automate the vehicle, and do not have the capability of doing so. They are completely safe to use. The FMCSA addressed this issue and many others on their FAQ page. There is no current requirement for the automation of truck-tractors, and it is unlikely that there will be any time soon. The nation, or really the world in general, cannot function without the trucking system as it currently stands, and human skills and reasoning in this area are not things that can easily be replaced by a machine. Truckers do not need to worry about ELDs subjecting them to harm or a violation of their safety. If you would like to learn more about ELDs and the FMCSA’s rule, visit their website, or check out our blog.

Written by: Shayla Powers