More than 3.5 million commercial drivers hit the road daily, planning to maximize their earnings and return home safely. Complying with the labyrinth of regulations can seem burdensome, but it could also be the easiest part of the job with the right technology.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) clearly outlines the rules and duties of fleets and drivers. Custom mobile apps are one of the easiest and most effective tools for simplifying daily tasks and compliance.
This article explains how fleets use the latest mobile technology innovations to improve compliance, driver safety, and productivity.
Federal Regulations for Truckers: The Backbone of Safety
FMCSA’s extensive rule set covers a broad scope of trucking operations that include:
- Hours of Service (HOS): This policy sets daily and weekly limits for drive time and mandatory rest breaks to help prevent fatigue-related accidents.
- Vehicle Maintenance and Inspections: Drivers must conduct pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections and send reports to fleets.
- Substance Testing: Fleets must conduct random drug and alcohol tests to deter impaired driving.
- Cargo-Specific Regulations: The agency has specific requirements for fleets transporting hazardous materials and other cargo types.
- Weight Limits: These rules safeguard infrastructure and protect the public by reducing vehicle stopping distances.
- Training and Licensing: The agency establishes drivers’ training and licensing requirements.
3 Ways to Maintain Compliance with Custom Apps
A custom app platform that integrates with your existing mobile and back-office systems is beneficial for simplifying rule compliance with all items above, especially the first two. Below are three examples of how it does that:
1. Simplifying Logs:
Keeping up-to-date, accurate logs is critical to maintaining low Compliance, Safety & Accountability (CSA) scores. This score directly impacts insurance premiums and customer relationships. Noncompliance can lead to driver tickets and severe liability in the event of an accident. Ensuring drivers are up to date with verifying their logs is crucial.
A custom driver app can solve this issue by alerting fleets to take corrective actions when drivers are out of compliance.
For example, NAPA uses its custom driver app to remove upcoming trip details for any driver who has not yet certified their logs. This workflow makes it impossible for drivers to take new loads until they fix the issue.
“This has resulted in a new habit: drivers now understand that if they don’t verify their logs, they’re not going to be able to move trips,” said NAPA’s IT Director, Jim Brighton. “Drivers out of compliance are approaching 0%.”
2. Better Document Management:
Custom apps assist in digitizing and organizing compliance-related documents, including licenses and certificates, maintenance inspections, HOS records, and more. They can be configured to alert drivers of document expiration dates or any possible updates. This proactive approach mitigates compliance risks to safeguard CSA scores while improving efficiency.
3. Improved Driver Verification Processes:
Custom apps facilitate seamless communication and task management between drivers and headquarters to help keep them aligned with company policies and government regulations. They also allow fleets to improve driver workflows with prompts, checks, forms, and other safeguards that close gaps left by ELD telematics solutions.
Custom features like to-do lists enable fleets to track safety-related tasks and ensure compliance with management objectives. For example, Paper Transport uses its custom app to give drivers a daily safety and performance metrics scorecard. A daily report shows drivers if they violated posted speed limits from the day prior. The violations are marked on a map for reference. Previously, the company sent drivers printed scorecards with information about 30 to 45 days old.
“We saw a dramatic improvement in adherence to speed limits,” said Paper Transport CEO Ben Schill. “If you show something that happened 30 days ago, drivers will not know what you are talking about.”
Additionally, Ryder needed a better way to track and manage safety-related tasks and other objectives set forth by management. The company configured its app to give drivers a daily to-do list that can include safety training tasks and videos. The list is sent out every two weeks and requires drivers to respond. The office can quickly identify which drivers have completed training tasks or not.
This feature alone has delivered improvements in:
- Communication
- Flexibility to complete training in or out of the cab
- Delivery efficiencies
- Safety compliance
- Calls to HQ
- Driver satisfaction
The Eleos Platform: A Catalyst for Compliance
Custom driver apps built with the Eleos platform offer integrated solutions to complex compliance challenges. They simplify work in the office and on the road with real-time notifications and reporting, automated workflows, and task completion verification.
Fleets can navigate the regulatory landscape by embracing mobile technologies and making them work exactly how they want to with a custom app platform. When compliance is simplified, fleets can maximize operational efficiency, safety, and driver satisfaction.
Schedule a demo to see how the Eleos platform can help you and your drivers simplify compliance with a custom mobile app.
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