How to Turn a Mandate into an Opportunity

On June 21st, Canada rolled out a new mandate requiring businesses to implement ELD’s on their commercial vehicle fleets. But before we delve deeper into this topic, we feel the need to clarify what ELD’s are, and what they do. Electronic Logging Devices (or ELD’s) are tools that allow you to keep control of your commercial vehicles and produce a Record of Duty Status (RODS) to create a better, safer work environment for your drivers. They can also enforce certain aspects of your planned drives, such as resting times or specific routes. Now, it’s important to recognize that some changes have the potential to disrupt your current operations, whether it’s due to costs of implementation, or the time spent making said adjustments. Despite that, you might find that ELD’s can also be a great tool to improve your business, and that’s what we’ll be going over in this blog post. Here are 5 reasons why the new ELD mandate can also be an opportunity for your business.

• Improved Inventory Control

  Among the main features an ELD has is Asset Tracking, whose advantages were covered on our last post about Mobile Device Management, which you can find here. However, the advantages of Asset Tracking now change due to the logistical context of ELD’s. Don’t worry though, we’ll do our best to not burden you with a bunch of acronyms. Basically, ELD asset tracking can help your business offer a better, more precise customer service, since you know exactly where your shipments are, and how long they’re going to take to get to their destination. This alone is a great added value to your business, since you’ll always be able to answer your client’s queries about shipping times or locations on the spot, with real, accurate information. Asset Tracking can also prove invaluable during emergencies where you need to know the exact location of your cargo in order to act swiftly.

• Less Paperwork

  Another problem that ELD’s can help you with is tedious paperwork. Most logistic companies will require their drivers to provide a Record of Duty Status meant to log every step of their journey. This step, however, takes a lot of time off your drivers that could be better used for other purposes. ELD’s can streamline your workflow by automatically logging your drivers’ trip in a format meant to make inspections a quick and easy endeavor, saving you valuable time and resources.

• Accountability = Productivity

  Let’s be honest. Finding a good workforce is not an easy task, but it can become a lot easier with an ELD. Electronic Logging Devices are a great tool to ensure that your company time is not being wasted on the road by providing you with a tamper-proof log of every mile your driver travels, or enforcing your own pre-set routes. This log also allows you to have a better insight of your company’s routes, giving you a better panorama to plan more efficient drives or compare average times to have a better grasp of the current status of your logistic operations.

• Make a Safe Bet

  As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, the main purpose of ELD implementation is safety. One of the most common causes of commercial vehicle accidents is the driver’s lack of sleep. Although it’s been hard to keep accurate track of a commercial driver’s resting schedule in the past, ELDs are now becoming the best solution to make sure your drivers, as well as your cargo, are safer on the road by helping you enforce resting periods. Think about it. This feature gives you the assurance that your business is complying with Canada’s working laws, but also makes sure your driver is always ready to stay on the road without endangering himself or others. That’s a win-win in our book.

• And, of Course, Savings

• Time is money, so don’t waste it with tedious paperwork when you can get it over it instantly with an ELD. Records Of Duty Status can take a lot of valuable time off your drivers, especially if they’re required to do it by hand.

• – Be the Captain of Your Fleet

  The right ELD can also reduce your costs by allowing you to have a tighter control of your logistic operations, which means that you’ll no longer need to pay someone else to do it. Of course, having an extra hand on deck is usually better, but if you’re in a tight financial situation, ELDs can make a huge difference on your bottom line.

• – Lose Expenses, Not Your Freighters

  Any business owner whose company depends on commercial vehicles to function knows the nightmare that is losing a unit, whether it’s due to accidents, theft or any other reason. Replacing a lost or damaged unit can be one of the most expensive costs you’ll have to make, even if you’re not taking into account the value of your cargo or the damage to your brand. As we mentioned before, ELDs are an important tool during emergencies because they help you to react faster to any unexpected occasion that may come up during your driver’s trip. This oversight can be the difference between losing one of your workers or helping to save the day.

• – Reduced liability and risk exposure

  We’re just going to say this bluntly: Legal liability can kill a business. Whether it’s because of an accident that involves a third party, or the expenses of uninsured cargo, a legal trial can have a devastating impact on your bottom line. As a business owner, your goal should always be to protect your brand as well as your assets, that’s why it’s so important to think about how to cover every aspect of your operations against any legal trouble. Since ELDs were designed to improve safety for your drivers, they can also be a great way to reduce your company’s exposure to risk.

As you can see, Electronic Logging Devices have A TON of advantages that can help you boost your business revenue while complying with the recent mandate, and we could go on and on listing ELDs useful features on this post, but we’d rather discuss them with you directly. So, as always, if still have some doubts about today’s topic or need additional support, you can get in touch with us at Expertel. We at Expertel can help you get your company get the right ELD to make it grow today, so don’t delay!