What Does This Means for Transportation and How Does it Benefit Our Customers at FMI?
The New Electronic Log Data Mandate in Canada is a federal regulation that requires certain commercial motor vehicle drivers to use electronic logging devices to record their hours of service. This mandate came into effect on June 12, 2021, and applies to commercial motor vehicle drivers who are currently required to maintain a record of duty status under the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations.
Having an ELD in a commercial vehicle has been mandatory in the United States since December 18, 2017. However, to give the Canadian industry some extra time to prepare for this mandate, the grace period for enforcement had been extended to January 1, 2023.
For FMI Logistics and the quality of your transportation needs, we think that this mandate will only benefit everyone by making the transportation process more efficient, and ultimately safer.
What exactly is an Electronic Logging Device?
An electronic logging device (ELD) is a piece of electronic hardware that is used by commercial motor vehicle drivers to record their hours of service (HOS) and other data related to their driving activities. ELDs replace the traditional paper logbooks that were previously used to track HOS.
An ELD connects to the vehicle’s engine and automatically records the driver’s:
- Driving time
- Engine hours
- Vehicle movement
- And other types of data
It is designed to ensure compliance with the hours of service regulations by accurately tracking and recording the driver’s duty status, driving time, and rest periods. This data can be accessed by authorized officials during roadside inspections or audits.
An ELD in your vehicle must meet technical specifications set by Transport Canada, which specify:
- Types of data that must be recorded
- How the device must be secured
- And how the data must be transmitted to enforcement officials
The mandate to use ELDs in Canada applies to commercial motor vehicle drivers who are currently required to maintain a record of duty status (RODS) under the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations.
As of February 2023, there are over 70 ELDs that are certified for use in Canada. Some of the certified ELD manufacturers include:
- Blue Ink Technology
- CarrierWeb
- Continental Automotive Systems
- Geotab
- Garmin
- KeepTruckin
- Omnitracs
- Rand McNally
- Stoneridge
- Transflo
It’s important to note that drivers and motor carriers are responsible for ensuring that the ELD they use is certified by Transport Canada and meets all of the technical requirements specified in the mandate.
What Are the Benefits of Using an ELD?
There are several benefits to using an ELD for commercial motor vehicle drivers and motor carriers:
- Increased accuracy
- Reduced paperwork
- Improved safety
- Real-time tracking
- Faster roadside inspections
Overall, the use of ELDs can help improve compliance with hours of service regulations, reduce paperwork and administrative burdens, improve safety, and increase efficiency for commercial motor vehicle drivers and motor carriers.
Get Modern Transportation and Logistics with FMI
At FMI Logistics, staying up to date with both technology and the latest regulations is at the top of our priorities. This new mandate provides several benefits for transportation and logistics customers.
One of the main benefits is increased transparency between you and FMI. ELDs provide real-time data on driver and vehicle operations, which allows us to track the movement of their goods more efficiently. This helps to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce the risk of theft or loss. The ELD data can also be used to provide more accurate delivery times to customers like you.
Another benefit is improved accuracy. ELDs help to improve the accuracy of our driver hours of service records by automatically recording driving time, rest periods, and other information. This reduces the risk of errors and false reporting, ensuring that our drivers are properly rested, reducing the risk of accidents caused by driver fatigue. ELDs will also provide alerts to our drivers and carriers when they are close to reaching their daily or weekly limits, which helps to prevent violations and fines, costs that we do not want to pass on to our customers.
The use of ELDs also helps to reduce our paperwork and administrative burdens. With ELDs, drivers no longer need to keep paper logs, reducing the risk of lost or damaged records. This also reduces the time and resources needed to process and manage paper-based records, again reducing costs and time of delivery for our customers.
In addition, the use of ELDs can help transportation and logistics customers to improve safety. With real-time data on driver behavior and vehicle operations, our partner carrier’s can identify areas where safety improvements are needed and take corrective actions. This can help to reduce accidents and injuries, and improve overall safety for our drivers and the public.
FMi Logistics goal is to partner with only the safest carriers on the road. The new ELD mandate will help ensure that we maintain that policy for the benefit of all our families that drive our nations highways everyday.
Contact us today to learn more about this new mandate and the broad range of transportation and logistical solutions we can provide for you.
