Deadline for ELD Compliance is Approaching

On December 18, 2017 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association, FMCSA, will require that all vehicles be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELD) in order to secure the compliance of hours of service laws. This measure is being enforced by the FMCSA for safety measures but they also claim that trucking companies all together will save 1.6 billion per year. However, carriers and independent operators are arguing that this measure will increase their compliance costs.

The FMCSA is claiming that savings are coming from paper costs as well as from the enhancement of fuel efficiency. On the other hand, it is estimated that installation costs will range between $199 - $2,200 per truck, plus a monthly fee between $20 - $60.  With these prices it estimated that if a carrier has a fleet of 10,000 it would increase their costs between $2.4 million & $7.2 annually, which does not include installation costs. Carriers do have more flexibility in raising their service prices to balance the costs, but this compliance has greater effect on owner operators who do not have many financing options.
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Overall the ELD measure is going to increase company operational costs. To read more about the ELD Compliance you can read the article regarding increasing costs on Trucker.

Share your thoughts on this measure with us  in the comments section!

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