The ELD Mandate deadline has passed! Brian McCoy, vice president of MiX Telematics North America, is here to help you with that transition.
MWS: YOU’VE HELPED DOZENS OF FLEETS THROUGH THE ELD TRANSITION. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST COMMON CHALLENGES FLEETS FACE DURING THE TRANSITION?
MCCOY: The biggest up-front decision fleets have to make is whether to go with a bare-bones tool that gives them minimum compliance or invest in a full-featured ELD solution that costs more up front but can pay for itself over time. If safety or efficiency are concerns, full-featured is the way to go. We’ve seen fleets achieve ROI on their ELD investments in less than a year due to safety and efficiency improvements, such as accident reductions and fuel savings.
One common challenge is driver buy-in. We recommend to our customers that they make driver reps part of the steering committee for their ELD project to make sure driver needs are represented in their search.
Another challenge is finding an ELD solution that’s right for your industry. Generic solutions don’t work for everyone. Some industries, like oil and gas for instance, have slightly different rulesets. If your vendor isn’t familiar with those rulesets, you could be out of compliance and not even know it. We recommend that fleets test an ELD solution using a subset of their own data to make sure it works well for their field.
MWS: THE DEADLINE FOR ELD COMPLIANCE IS COMING UP QUICKLY. WHAT ARE STEPS FLEETS MUST TAKE IMMEDIATELY TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE?
MCCOY: At this point, fleets who have not taken any steps toward evaluating ELD solutions to ensure compliance will have trouble making the deadline. A smaller fleet might be able to quickly implement a low-end solution just for compliance to buy some time but will probably want to migrate to something full-featured pretty quickly.
Fortunately, every large fleet I’m aware of has already completed their ELD rollout. Some have spent years preparing, testing, and implementing. For the past several months, we’ve mostly hearD from small- and medium-sized fleets who are racing to meet the deadline.
MWS: SOME ELD-COMPLIANT FLEETS ARE USING THEIR SYSTEMS AT THE BARE MINIMUM, YET MANY ELDS OFFER BENEFITS WELL BEYOND RECORDING HOURS OF SERVICE. WHAT ARE OTHER ASPECTS OF ELDS THAT FLEETS SHOULD TAP INTO TO USE ELD SYSTEMS TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL?
MCCOY: MiX Telematics did a survey on this topic earlier in the year, and we found that many fleets were not fully leveraging their ELD data for safety and efficiency gains. For instance, only 59% were tracking safety incidents, 61% were tracking fuel economy, and 79% were tracking vehicle speed. That data is all readily available in any full-featured ELD, just waiting to be analyzed and put to work.
MWS: AS VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT MIX TELEMATICS, WHAT ARE BENEFITS YOU SEE FROM MIX TELEMATICS THAT OTHER PROVIDERS DO NOT/CANNOT OFFER?
MCCOY: MiX analysis has found that the net ROI for a full-featured ELD solution can be around $134 per vehicle/per month—after the cost of the system. This is from compliance, safety, and efficiency gains.
MiX definitely offers great features and value, but I think where MiX really shines is after the implementation. We offer Service for Life, which means we work proactively with customers on an ongoing basis to make sure they are continually getting the most out of our solutions. We’re providing tips and best practices to optimize those safety and efficiency gains through a partnership approach.
Find out more, visit www.mixtelematics.com.
About the author
Brian McCoy is the vice president of business development at MiX Telematics North America. His main focus for the past 13 years at MiX has been to educate and provide driver behavior modification and electronic logging solutions for land transport safety. As a subject matter expert, Brian speaks at many industry trade shows throughout the world and has become very familiar with the multitude of different driver monitoring devices available. He holds a B.A. in finance from The University of North Texas and an M.B.A in strategy, entrepreneurship, and finance from Southern Methodist University.
