In my last report on ELD's, I had informed everyone that I was regrettably having to revert back to chicken-scratching paper logs after switching carriers. Having had an ELD for several years leading up to my choice to change carriers, paper was not something I was looking forward to having to do again. Sure, for an OTR driver it may not be too hard, but for someone who operates 75% drop and hook with up to a dozen different trailers a day it can be a real pain in the rear! The reason owner-ops had to do paper at the new carrier was because they were still finishing up outfitting all of their company trucks with ELD's.
When I signed on, I was still in my Freightliner Cascadia Evolution, which I had already had wired and fitted for Qualcomm communications. When I came to this new carrier, they were able to plug a unit right into my existing harness, mount the dome onto my existing mount, which enabled me to have dispatch communications without the ELD function. Along came my next set of hurdles, my new CNG powered Cascadia that was not fitted for any kind of communications from the factory when I received it. When I approached my carrier about this, they gave me the option of drilling into the roof to mount the dome, but couldn't guarantee it wouldn't leak sometime in the future. They had tried this on some of their own previous units and had cases of leakage documented that made me a little nervous about that option.
It seemed that I had exhausted all possibilities within a few weeks of research. You see, a traditional bracket for a daycab dome on a Cascadia sticks out towards the rear behind the cab. That is not exactly going to fly when you have a 100-gallon CNG tank sitting there a few inches above the roofline. A custom manufactured angle mount was considered, but once again there was no guarantee on it, as the weight of the 25-pound antenna dome vibrating and bouncing could possibly bend even the strongest steel mount. It was at this point that my good fortune and negotiating skills seemed to finally meet in the middle. After lobbying for weeks to be the fleet’s first owner-operator with an ELD that didn't require a dome antenna, they had got back to me with notification that they had just finished ordering enough for the rest of their trucks and would like me to try the unit out to give an owner-op's perspective. After now having this very advanced ELD system for a couple months, my life has become simpler yet again. Sure, its not an idiot-proof system (none really are) and requires some basic knowledge to operate, but it does a good job of being idiot-resistant when it comes to my operating it! Many people say that you truly never learn to appreciate what you have until you have lost it. Well, let me tell you something...I lost my ELD once before and there is no way I am going without again!!!
Quick Messaging Capabilites
 |
Touch Icons for Duty Status Changes
 |
HOS Graphs
 |
Credit Card-Sized Antenna
 |
And they lived happily ever after!...I love stories with a happy endings!!!
 |