Electronic Logging Devices will not fix what ails the trucking industry. The problem remains that drivers (for the most part) only get paid when the truck is rolling. The symptom is that when anything is free, it will get wasted. If shippers and consignees had to pay for drivers' time from minute one – then dock efficiency would increase.
There are some basic Economic 101 truths. People and companies tend to act in their own self interest. If it costs less for a shipper to keep a trucker waiting than hiring another fork lift driver, they will let the trucker sit. If it costs more to have a trucker waiting than hiring another fork lift driver, they will hire another fork lift driver. That would satisfy the truckers need to get moving.
In Jeff's perfect world, drivers would get paid for all of their on duty time. Shippers and consignees would pay for all of the drivers' time. Bills of lading would be time stamped with arrival and departure times. ELDs would be irrelevant.
This is not Jeff's perfect world. Shippers and consignees have no problem wasting our time as long as they don't have to pay for it.ELDs won't fix that. What they do is limit drivers' ability to donate time. Once the truck starts rolling, the 14 hour clock does not stop. In the past, driver could hide or compress time. ELDs will not completely change that. They can only limit that. At best they are a partial solution to the real problem.
It was decades ago that one of the largest shippers in the world made a decision. They would no longer put their paper loads on the floor making it easier to unload. They would use pallets. That is not all they did. They gave the consignees a discount if they got the trucks unloaded in under 2 hours. The consignee would have to pay full price if they exceeded 2 hours. Many tradition 4 hour loads miraculously got unloaded in less than 2 hours.
Innovation and cooperation are what we need to get through this roll out. We constantly read about the smaller companies complaining that the 14 hour rule benefits larger companies who can have a higher trailer to truck ratio. Of course it does. These companies have made major investments to keep their drivers rolling. They have increased efficiency. That is a good thing. This time of year, I tend to get more live loads. Every one of the dock hits went smoothly and they did not take much longer than a drop and hook.
Over the last few years we have seen companies, including Paper Transport, start paying companies after one hour. That is a good step. The solution will come when the shippers and receivers are responsible for paying drivers immediately. In the meantime this is what we will have, and we are going to have to find a way to “Deal with it.”.