Eleos and USA Truck were a natural fit for each other. Combining third-party solutions into a unified dashboard is what we do. USA Truck’s ambitious (some said “crazy”) 8-week timeline to roll out the new driver app did not deter us. With the help of their developers, we were able to meet that deadline without trouble—Eleos’ pre-built native components ensure that in-house developers don’t need to learn any special new skills.

USA Truck was then able to roll out a white-labeled workflow app to drivers, which would run on any smartphone.

The mobile app is designed for integration with Geotab, and provides HOS/ELD, turn-by-turn truck navigation, workflows, dispatch information, pay stubs, exception reporting, and more. It has received high praise from USA Truck, who love the ability to present a single interface to their drivers that unifies so much data from so many systems.

“What it does from a driver standpoint is it really helps with convenience,” says Billy Cartright, Senior VP of Operations. “The driver does not have to be in the truck to see the load assignment. They can look on their phone, they have the information, they know when they need to pick up a load and what they need to do. So it’s really driver-friendly because they have the info right there. They don’t have to be in the truck waiting for a load to come across.”

Drivers now have far more information right at their fingertips, and the app provides a very quick way to access everything they need. They have payload and mileage data instantly available. If they need to communicate with dispatch, they can do so with a modern chat interface. They can even watch safety instruction videos right on their phones.

“This is going to be a big advantage to us when we’re communicating the other advantages of working for USA Truck to new recruits” – Steve Brantley, Director of Driver Recruiting

Tom Miller, a veteran driver, reflects on the significance of Eleos for his job. “I can go back to way back when, it was just like a notepad and an 800 number and a phone booth,” he says. “Now I’m able to use Eleos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to have contact.”

Trucking is a business of time management, so anything that lessens the response times of drivers, or gets information to them quicker, increases the amount of time they have to drive over the road and be productive. This is reflected in USA Truck’s operational stats since rolling out the Eleos app.

“We are definitely seeing better driver utilization per driver that has downloaded the application and is using it regularly,” says Jason Key, Director of Operations.

Drivers are enthusiastic. “I absolutely love it,” says April Coolidge, a driver and driver trainer. “There’s really nothing on the driver app that I do not utilize. It has been just a blessing to have something that is so easy to use, so handy, to provide me with all the information that I need to do my day-to-day job.”

One standout feature that has become a fast favorite is the ability for a driver to access detailed paystub information. Before Eleos, drivers simply received paychecks with total pay shown. Now, they can see the complete breakdown of their pay, in the app’s paystub dashboard. This gives them clarity—they understand exactly what they have been paid for, and feel more confident about the status of their earnings. They are no longer dependent on having to call in to follow up on paycheck issues, like checking whether they have been reimbursed for a receipt, or why they were paid a certain amount. This in turn reduces administrative overhead enormously.

Recognizing the popularity of this feature, USA Truck is planning to expand the app’s paystub functionality to show not just completed paychecks, but also week-to-date, so drivers can see what they have earned so far.

As USA Truck develops new systems and functionalities, they can continue to tie these back into the Eleos app. But next on their roadmap is more deeply integrating a critical system they already have.

“Our next function is going to be safety,” says CIO Chris Rhodes. “We’re going to update the whole safety process, so drivers can take pictures and send that information directly to safety. This will reduce the number of calls. Fewer calls in, requires fewer people to handle the calls, so everyone becomes more productive—from the driver to the office personnel.”