Electronic logging devices (ELD) are known as specially designed ELD hardware for the commercial vehicle sphere.
It is created to simplify HOS recording for drivers and improve the safety level on the road.
ELD performance provides certain technical peculiarities to achieve these needs.
Why Do You Need an ELD?
An electronic logging device (ELD) is a must-have equipment for freight and passenger transportation in America.
In the absence of an installed device, certain categories of commercial drivers can get fines and out-of-service tickets. To use ELD hardware properly, you need to understand the nuances of ELD performance (electronic logging device performance).
This information will be useful for novice drivers and experienced ones to avoid difficulties in using the equipment and buying ELD.
ELD with Vehicle Performance — What Functions are Required?
To ensure excellent ELD performance, the device must meet certain specifications and have the necessary functions. You can learn more about the availability of mandatory functions for compliance with ELD Mandate requirements on the FMCSA website. Among the main ones are the following:
- full sync with truck or bus engine for automatic HOS recording;
- tamper protection;
- the function of transferring data from ELD to the device of state bodies, if necessary, using the provided methods (USB, Bluetooth, telematic ones).
Also, truck GPS tracking, truck navigation, and truck maps are integral features of ELD. It allows you to track the location of the truck, count the miles traveled and hours, and fuel consumed. With special software, the driver can plan his route in the trip planner. This is an important technical feature for the back-end office, as it allows you to monitor and control the driver’s work, and keep track of the vehicle, which is useful for optimizing productivity and in case of an emergency.
When choosing an ELD, it is also important to pay attention to the storage of the received data. The best option is a cloud, which allows you to store large amounts of information, share access with other users, and view data at any convenient time from a smartphone or laptop.
ELD Performance from a Technical Point
The electronic logging device (ELD) provides an accurate record of the commercial driver’s hours of operation. Thus, the main secret of excellent ELD performance is synchronization with the vehicle engine: a truck or a passenger bus. It is achieved through a direct connection to the commercial vehicle motor. For this, a cable is usually used that connects the electronic logging device with engine control modules. Then this hardware sends the received information to an electronic logbook (elog).
What is ELD performance concerning duty statuses? They are changed automatically depending on the duration of engine operation. When a truck starts running faster than 5 miles per hour, ELD switches into driving mode. If the vehicle does not move longer than 5 minutes the ELD device sends a request to the driver with a demand to confirm the current status. If there is no answer during 1 minute, ELD turns on off-duty mode. Thus, the device always records the exact number of driving hours that cannot be falsified.
In addition to recording engine hours while the truck is in motion, ELD receives some other data. Among them is information about the carrier, vehicle, driver, directly about the user, distance traveled, engine hours, location, exact time, and date of travel. The device has a built-in high-tech GPS tracker, which allows an operator to record this data without errors. It is worth remembering that engine hours are different from regular astronomic hours and can be longer or shorter.
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