Partner Article

How EOBRs Can Help Your Fleet

One of the best tools for improving fleet efficiency is installing EOBRs, or electronic on-board recorders. These computers automatically gather information like vehicle status, speed, driving habits, hours of service, hours spent on breaks and more. This provides many benefits for both fleet operators and lorry drivers.

When EOBRs are first introduced to a fleet, many drivers resist the change. They feel that the machines are intrusive and kill the feeling of the freedom of the road. Once they get used to them, however, they find that they actually like the devices. Here are some of the benefits drivers get from using these machines:

1. More driving time. In the U.S., paper logs are rounded to the nearest 15 minutes. Electronic logs, on the other hand, are recorded on a per-minute basis. This can translate into up to 10 hours of extra driving time per week. That’s very important to drivers who are paid by the amount of time driven instead of on a distance basis.
2. No need to deal with paper. Drivers want to drive, not spend their time hassling with logs and other paper requirements. An EOBR device in the lorry makes these hassles disappear. It also means that the driver doesn’t have to worry about mistakes, grammatical correctness or keeping piles of old logs around at home.
3. Easy access to roadside service. There’s no worry about breaking down in the middle of nowhere with an EOBR. The machine allows the base to be notified when a tow truck is needed or even when the driver gets lost. The GPS in the device will allow the dispatcher to see exactly where the lorry is and where it should be, so help can easily be provided.

For companies, EOBRs have benefits that help with both routing and regulatory concerns.

1. Easier regulatory compliance. EOBRs eliminate paper logs and analogue tachograph records. They’re also harder to tamper with than tachographs, so there is less need to worry about dodgy practices. This makes it easy to produce the relevant information in the event of an investigation, while saving companies from having to store and sort reams of collected material.
2. Better routing abilities. Dispatchers can easily find areas of traffic congestion or construction and provide drivers with routes that allow them to bypass the problem. This allows for speedier deliveries and prevents fuel waste.
3. Fuel and driver performance is easy to monitor. Companies can use this to know when a lorry needs to be serviced. They can also watch driver performance to spot things like hard stops or speeding. Drivers who have inefficient or dangerous driving practices can then be coached or reprimanded to improve their performance.

These are just some of the top benefits EOBRs have for both delivery companies and drivers. When the full suite of EOBR capabilities is accessed, most who use them don’t want to go back to the old-fashioned methods. The devices are definitely worth a close look from anyone in the over-the-road freight business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Danielle M. .