As the FMCSA Final Rule Summary states: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to establish: Minimum performance and design standards for hours-of-service (HOS) electronic logging devices (ELDs); requirements for the mandatory use of these devices by drivers currently required to prepare HOS records of duty status (RODS); requirements concerning HOS supporting documents; and measures to address concerns about harassment resulting from the mandatory use of ELDs. The requirements for ELDs will improve compliance with the HOS rules. The compliance date for this rule is December 10, 2017.

This mandate presents both a need for new tracking solutions for every trucking company, but also creates a host of new responsibilities for today’s dispatcher. For example a dispatcher who is handling the process manually would need to check a third party web site look and see how many hours their driver has available, then manually calculate how many hours the driver would require to complete their current load. Also once that load is completed, they must check the distance to the pickup point for the load they are looking to assign them to, and can they get to the pickup point on time and legally. Assuming they can make the pickup legally they then have to calculate if the driver can legally deliver the load on time. It’s no wonder that forward thinking trucking company owners are looking for a better way to manage the process.

For many, this better way has come in the form of a Transportation Management or Dispatch Solution. In addition to automating virtually every aspect of the dispatch and accounting processes, these solutions offer powerful integration with e-Logs. The advantage to have E-logs integrated with a dispatch solution, is that when deciding what driver should be assigned to a load a dispatcher can easily see what drivers can and cannot legally pickup and deliver a load on time based on their available hours of service. This is available at a glance within their dispatch software, no third party lookups or manual calculations are required. Whether booking 10 loads per day or 100 loads per day, you can imagine the time savings and efficiency gains.

We at FTS Plus+ recommend preparing well in advance for compliance with the e-Logs Mandate, and our team is here as always, to advise on practical solutions for our members. We are proud to partner with HighJump's ProphesySeries Software to offer our members rebates on powerful and integrated software solutions. Contact your Savings Consultant at (800) 749-1724 Opt. 2 or info@ftsplus.com to learn how your FTS Plus+ Membership can help you save in this area.

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To learn more about all the great savings available for you to take advantage of, visit us at ftsplus.com/savings or give us a call at (800) 749-1724 Opt. 2 and talk with one of our dedicated savings consultants.

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