Drivers, for once, are in the enviable position of a win-win situation.
Right now you are pretty much free to pick and choose any company you want to drive for due to the shortage of new drivers. In this climate, carriers are starting to pay more attention to the driver’s needs. They can’t afford to lose you guys and they can’t afford any shutdowns caused by hours of service violations.
Your value as a driver is only going to increase.
However, there’s another thing that you might not realize is going to be of great benefit to you.
The dreaded ELD mandate!
You’ve probably been trying to ignore it but, with the ELD mandate just around the corner, you actually have a very rare opportunity to get what you want out of it.
Currently, you pretty much have freedom of choice when it comes to doing your logs. So, it makes sense your ELD should be something you already know how to use. That is, unless you want to an ELD forced upon you and go through the whole process of learning how to use it.
Good electronic logs should be easy and intuitive to use for the driver. When you make the switch to ELD don’t you think you should be getting the same experience? This is why it’s important to let your fleet manager know now what ELD you want to use, before they stick you with something you don’t want.
Send your supervisor our ELD eBook
As you may already know, the ultimate goal of the ELD mandate is to reduce crashes. There are no changes to the hours of service regulations you are already used to. The only difference is, unlike paper and electronic logbooks, they are connected to your vehicle’s engine. This forces you to follow hours of service rules a lot more rigorously as the “wiggle room” you’ve enjoyed with log books will be diminished.
Now there’s the thing that concerns you most. How do you run “legal” when you’ve always allowed for a bit of wiggle room in your logs? The fact is, the ELD mandate creates a level playing field that forces everyone to comply.
Reducing crashes may be a big part of it, but this new level playing field also includes provisions for driver privacy and to prevent driver harassment. These provisions along with the agency’s proposed driver coercion rules are designed to stop carriers, shippers and brokers from forcing you to drive beyond your hours.
Make more money
Still not convinced? Like I said at the beginning, your value is only going to increase. As the agency puts more pressure on shippers, the worth of the driver will only rise further with ELD.
You may end up working fewer hours, but the market will dictate that wages will go up. There is no way you are going to get paid less money.