How can the ELD rule strengthen the connection between Health and Safety (EHS), Fleet Management and Dispatching departments?

Even if you are not a traditional transportation company, but have a fleet to move your own product, the government views you as a transportation company. The ELD rule can help a company’s Health and Safety (EHS), Fleet Management and Dispatching departments to work closer together on creating a safe work environment.

A company’s safety team is usually in charge of maintaining compliance with government regulations, including the driver logbooks and hours of service (HOS). The decreased paperwork submission and audit times, allows the safety team to become more proactive and behavioral, rather than using the traditional reactive approach.

Fleet managers can benefit from the decreased submission times for vehicle inspections, as this will help them to identify issues with the vehicles faster and enabling a much quicker response time. Fleet managers can coordinate with the dispatch department to communicate with the drivers and to schedule preventative or required maintenance.

If dispatchers have the ability to view a driver’s available time, this should help with planning and routing drivers. Communication is increased with customers and coordinating with the fleet management department should repairs or servicing be required on vehicles and trailers. It will also help prevent harassment towards drivers that would result in the driver violating the HOS rules.