All Pedigree Technologies posts related to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.

Drivewyze Safety+: Proactive Driver Alerts Welcome in a New Era in Safety

DriveWyze Safety plus

Making the Job of Driving Easier, Safer, and Less Stressful

In a world where technology is ever changing, Pedigree Technologies and Drivewyze are making the job of driving a little bit easier, a little bit safer, and a little less stressful.  And it’s giving fleet and safety managers vital information to help drivers on all fronts.

It’s called Drivewyze Safety+ — the industry’s first proactive driver safety management platform. Unlike dash cams and telematics-based safety systems, which report on driver behavior after the fact, Drivewyze Safety+ helps prevent the behavior from happening in the first place. It’s a breakthrough in driver behavior modification.

Drivewyze Safety+ builds off Drivewyze’s popular Safety Notifications and is embedded in your Pedigree Technologies ELD for easy activation — no extra hardware required! It gives drivers safety alerts prior to an upcoming danger area and even lets a fleet set their own custom location-based alerts. Creating a custom alert is easy, and once you do it’ll automatically display to drivers when they reach that location – be it a low bridge, risky curve, or your own yard.

It’s an entirely new way of thinking and managing drivers when it comes to safety. It can help prevent speeding infractions by warning a driver on an upcoming ‘high infraction zone,’ provide an alert for an upcoming high rollover corner, even help with safety alerts down mountain passes. And, at the end of the day, Drivewyze Safety+ even lets your drivers know the number of parking spaces available at an upcoming rest area in select states.

This quick demo takes you inside the platform to show you how it works:

Here’s What’s Included with Safety+

DriveWyze ZonesThanks to our relationship with state, provincial and safety agencies, we’re able to mine data, and understand where trouble spots reside. And, where parking safe havens are with the number of parking spots available.

We’ve identified ‘speed violation zones’ based on cumulative citation history. Safety+ gives drivers that are driving too fast in known high citation areas an alert to slow down – averting a possible speeding ticket, or worse yet, an accident. Need to park for the night? Drivewyze Safety+ helps drivers by providing dynamic parking alerts in select states. In-cab messaging gives the actual number of parking spots available, in real-time, so drivers can make the decision to continue on to the rest area, or look for other alternative parking.

But, best of all, fleets can develop their own custom zones. Have a certain area that you don’t want drivers entering, or known areas that have caused accidents, fender-benders, or speeding tickets within your fleet? Want to remind drivers about driving restrictions when entering yards?  Simply tag each area by GPS location in the easy-to-use Drivewyze Hub and your alerts will display to drivers when they reach your set location.  You have complete control over in-cab driver messaging.

Safety+ also includes other alerts that Drivewyze pioneered, like high rollover, low bridges, and mountain corridors (giving notifications to use low gears, check brakes…while also providing alerts on upcoming runaway ramps).

Data that Provides Insight

The beauty of Drivewyze Safety+ is it generates data-rich information that can be mined and put to use to further your safety program. You can drill down to see how a particular driver is reacting to the safety notifications, plus review the aggregate – seeing how your entire driver pool is complying. It can serve as a great proactive driver coaching platform, further supporting programs that are already in place.

Are your drivers slowing down when alerts come on? How is that trending? Who are your best performers? Who needs some coaching? All this data and more is readily available within your fleet dashboard on the Drivewyze Hub.

Information from Safety+ can merge into other programs you might have thanks to our full set of reporting APIs for data integration.

DriveWyze Laptop

Protect Against Nuclear Verdicts

Combined, this data shows you are taking the steps needed to make your drivers safer — something insurance agencies and the courts scrutinize. Insurance providers always look to insure companies that are proactive in safety. And, if there is litigation against your company for an incident, the best protection is to have a documented program that shows you are giving your drivers the tools to be safe on the road. Don’t be held liable; avoid nuclear verdicts.

Does it All Work?

DriveWyze 17% ReductionWe’ve identified and location-based tagged more than 2,500 high-risk areas that typically give truckers problems, with more sites being added each month.

And, yes, the alerts are proven to modify behavior. With our proactive speed alerts, we are seeing a 27% reduction in speeding events (for those truckers going at least 5 mph over the speed limit).

Our rollover data is also compelling. In a two-year study with a major trucking company involving thousands of trucks, alerts for high rollover curves resulted in speeds being reduced by 17%.  That’s important. Data shows that the top speeders in rollover zones are 400% more likely to be in an accident than their peers.

Reminders Make a Difference

The name of the game in trucking is being safe — for your driver, and the motoring public. Proactive safety alerts from Drivewyze give your drivers a quick reminder that a danger zone is coming up….or that a safe place to park is nearing and there are spots available. There is an old saying that knowledge is power. And, with Drivewyze Safety+ you now have the power to make your drivers safer.

See for Yourself

Getting started is easy and risk free. Book a demo with one of our experienced team Pedigree Technology team members to see the platform for yourself and explore how OneView and Safety+ can make a difference for your fleet, then we’ll get you started with a 30-day free trial of the service. Click here to learn more and book a demo.

 

Finding the Right ELD Features for Operations and Safety

Going Beyond the Basic ELD Features

Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) have revolutionized the trucking industry, providing real-time data and improved compliance with hours-of-service regulations. With the implementation of ELDs, trucking companies have access to a wealth of information that can be used to optimize their operations and improve the safety of their drivers.

Here are some of the advanced ELD and fleet features that trucking companies are using to enhance their operations and improve safety:

  1. Yard Moves: In most ELD solutions Unidentified Driving Records triggered by yard moves requires the driver to manually indicate in the ELD that he/she was not driving. Advanced ELDs apply geofences around the yard to create virtual boundaries so any yard move can automatically be recorded as a yard move and greatly reduce the administrative time required to manage these records.
  2. Vehicle Diagnostics: ELD tablets can be used to alert drivers and fleet managers to the health of a truck and its systems, including engine performance, tire pressure, and other critical components. This helps trucking companies identify potential issues before they become major problems, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.
  3. Driver Scorecards: Driver scorecards are used to track and evaluate driver performance. Advanced ELDs can track important metrics such as speed, braking, acceleration, camera events, and other configurable parameters to allow trucking companies to monitor the performance of their drivers and identify areas for improvement.
  4. Inspections & Maintenance Tracking: Electronic vehicle inspections allow drivers to perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections using their ELD tablet. The results of these inspections can provide real-time notifications and generation of maintenance tickets. Once repairs are completed drivers and dispatch can be notified that the vehicle is safe and road-worthy, reducing the risk of accidents.
  5. Rules Sets: there are over 30 Federal, Canadian, and Intrastate rule sets that are used by commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and trucking companies for Hours of Service compliance. Advanced ELD solutions will not only support these rule sets, but automatically change rule sets based on the truck’s location.

In conclusion, advanced ELD features are providing trucking companies with the tools they need to streamline their operations and improve safety. By utilizing these features, trucking companies can reduce costs, enhance compliance, and improve the overall efficiency of their operations.

Contact us today to learn more about how Pedigree Technologies can assist you. 

ELDs – More than a Paper Replacement

Back in 1976 Florida orange juice growers came up with a clever advertising slogan, “Orange juice, it’s not just for breakfast anymore.”  In the world of trucking your ELD “Is not just a logbook anymore.”  Since U.S. and Canadian ELD mandates require nearly all federally regulated trucks to replace their paper logbooks with Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) to automate collection and reporting of Hours of Service (HOS) data, every truck has an intelligent device that can do more than be just a logbook. 

In this article, we’ll discuss how your ELD can enhance your driving experience, monitor your equipment/data sources and simply put – optimize your overall operations.    

An ELD can be Just an Electronic Logbook 

The ELD logbook replacement makes HOS logging simpler, more accurate, and avoids fines with its automated record keeping – so easy that hardly anyone would welcome going back to paper.  Drivers save time and the hassle of paper logs creating the ease of showing HOS compliance at the “click of a button”.  Inspectors see a consistent format, accurate records, and let’s admit it, a legible record that makes any engagement between drivers and officials faster and more efficient.  The ELD mandate only requires the ELD replace the logbook, but to the possibilities go far beyond just that function. 

ELD as Much More 

Your ELD is a smart electronic device that can do much more than simply replace your logbook.  With the introduction of tablet or phone into the cab, an ELD system now has significant computer power and communication capabilitiesThis means it can monitor many elements or “things” around or in the truck and upload this information to the internet or display it to the driver Essentially ELD has transformed a logbook into an “Internet of Things” (IoT) solution for trucking.  Here are some examples of how IoT around a truck might be valuable to both the driver and fleet operator.   

Flexible ELD Solution to meet your business needs

Sensors

Automatically monitor and alert the driver about what’s going on with the load, truck, and trailer by connecting to sensors that can detect liquid fuel load levels, tire pressure (TPMS), hub health, refrigerated load temperature, and more.  ELD software intelligence provides more than just gauges by displaying warnings before problems become failures. 

Dashcams 

Capture and transmit out-the-cab video records of incidents such as crashes or dangerous braking to document “at fault” evidence when needed.  ELD can record and transmit incident records to the carrier to help reduce insurance costs and improve driver safety performance. 

Applications 

ELDs, especially those built on open systems like Android, can be configured with a variety of applications either standalone or integrated with fleet management systems. Some of these configurable integrations include navigation, rest stop and parking advice, toll by-pass, safety alerts, and electronic paperwork capture and display of work-orders, receipts, and more. 

Diagnostics and Maintenance

An ELD connects to the engine OBD port to capture engine power status, vehicle motion status, miles driven, and engine hours to meet the ELD mandate.  That same connection gives access to vehicle diagnostic fault codes that the ELD can display to the driver and report to the FMS.  Faults like a stuck fuel adjuster, coolant temperature problem, exhaust faults, and more can be monitored and alarmed, if needed, to schedule maintenance to prevent issues from becoming breakdowns.  Think of it as a mechanic riding along under the hood to help ensure the drive train is performing as it should. 

ELDs, Fleet Management Platforms 

A Fleet Management System (FMS) manages the information from devices integrated with the ELD as well as devices like telematics/tracking devices by giving an integrated view to the driver and to the dispatcher.   

An ELD and its connected system of sensors and applications can operate standalone, but the FMS adds the big picture intelligence to provide dispatchers and operators the information they need to operate most efficiently and safely. 

Think Ahead 

Choosing an ELD is not something that you can or should put off.  Canada enforcement of the ELD mandate starts January 1, 2023.  It’s important to consider “future proofing” your ELD by selecting a solution that can expand as your needs change to integrate with sensors and vehicle monitoring devices making a substantial difference in your business success. 

Final Comments 

Your ELD is a tool that can do just one task, HOS capture/reporting, or it can be a key piece of a fleet management systemKeep in mind, you don’t have to jump in with both feet right away.  Choose an ELD that can be part of an open system, delivering value with your initial purchase and increasing its value over time. Our recommendation, take the time to educate yourself on which options are available and choose the best solution that meets your needs  ELDs, not just for logbooks anymore.