Here’s how trucking companies and their drivers can benefit from using ELDs.

Benefits for the trucking company:

• Better CSA scores – Because ELDs can help drivers prevent HOS violations (among other violations) they get better CSA scores.
• Get more business opportunities and clients – Some clients look into a trucking company’s CSA score before they decide to work with them. The assumption is, if the company has a good CSA score, then that means they are employing good business practices and their drivers have good driving habits.
• In short, they are painless to work with.
• Reduced fuel costs – Fleet managers can help drivers find the quickest, fastest, and safest route that will take them to their destination. It results in lesser fuel costs and a higher level of productivity.
• Improved fleet management – ELDs have several features that can help dispatchers oversee the entire fleet. They can track a vehicle’s location in real-time, message the drivers directly through the logbook apps, and generate reports effortlessly.
• Better insurance premiums – Because the ELD mandate will increase the safety of your fleet, you’ll have lesser insurance premiums since your fleet isn’t high risk (comparatively speaking).
• It’s easier to recruit new drivers – When a trucking company has a good CSA score and a reputation of having very few road accidents, it tells truck drivers that the company is a good prospect to work with.

Benefits for the drivers:

• The drivers can breeze through roadside inspections – The inspectors won’t have to do much digging when truck drivers have ELDs installed in their trucks. Drivers can show roadside inspectors their electronic logbook app which pretty much contains most of the details those inspectors are looking for.

  What’s more, since the reports that drivers will share are accurate, inspectors won’t have to ask a lot of questions before clearing the drivers.

• Avoid HOS violations – Because ELDs will notify drivers if they have an up-and-coming violation, truck drivers are able to easily avoid them.
• Focus on driving – Drivers won’t have to hassle themselves with paper logs since ELDs track vehicle’s movements and HOS violations automatically.
• Improved driver performance – Because ELDs can monitor a truck’s movement (e.g. when it makes sharp turns, excessive accelerations, or sudden stops), fleet managers can give truck drivers proper feedbacks on their driving habits. This can help drivers improve their driving skills.
• Better driver safety – ELDs can help keep drivers from working while fatigued, as it will notify them when they’re approaching an HOS violation. This can keep drivers from experiencing a crash due to them driving while drowsy.
• Drivers won’t miss their breaks – Through ELDs’ automatic log auditing, fleet managers would see if drivers missed their breaks. They can then remind the truck drivers about it through sending them a direct message via the logbook app.
• Get immediate help – Since ELDs enable fleet managers to track a vehicle’s’ exact location, drivers can get immediate help when they ask for it.
• Lesser calls from dispatch – Dispatch won’t have to keep on calling truck drivers for their location, ETA, or their available hours since they can view these details directly within their web-based ELD dashboard.

These are just some of the benefits of using ELDs. Depending on which ELD provider you’ll get your device from, you can enjoy several other functionalities that your fleet managers and drivers can use.