What are the Benefits of an ELD?

ELDs or Electronic Logging Devices are fairly new to the trucking world. Some people love them, others wish they never existed. But regardless of where you stand on the matter, you cannot deny that ELDs don’t have any benefits. Their primary uses include monitoring other driving habits in addition to driving hours, but that’s not all they’re useful for! Let’s dig a little deeper into the benefits of an ELD together…

 

Do ELDs Improve Fleet’s Safety?

 

It comes as no surprise that 90% of accidents are influenced by driver behaviour. By using the driver coaching features that ELDs offer, driving habits can be made safer and reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring. Things like speeding, harsh braking or acceleration, and optimized routes can be easily tracked by ELDs and help to monitor drivers. These features allow future employers to have a track record of how the driver performed and was rated for safety – allowing fleet managers to hire the safest drivers and keep the roads free of accidents.

 

How not to drive trucks and cars:

 

(PS: Maintain those good driving habits people!)

 

 

 

Less Paperwork with ELDs

 

ELDs allow companies to go paperless, leaving no room for human error. They allow drivers to save time by not having to go through the tedious process of logging their hours individually. With ELDs, the need for drivers to fill in their logs by hand and have them faxed while they are on the road is eliminated. Without ELDs, inspections take longer because of the paperwork that has to be searched through to find errors or HOS violations. This leads to drivers waiting… and waiting……..and waiting…

 

via GIPHY

But with ELDs, clear logs provide the information needed instantly, helping the repair shop identify the issue and help get the driver back on the road in no time! With the ability to monitor maintenance alerts, drivers can catch faulty issues before they become an even bigger, more time – consuming problem. Less time at a repair shop = more time on the road.

 

 

$ How ELDs Save Money?

 

With features such as driver coaching, another benefit of an ELD is it helps business save money. Why you ask? Believe it or not, 30% of fuel costs are influenced by driver behavior. Fear not however, because driver coaching features can actually help to improve fuel efficiency by up to 12% and reduce fuel usage by 18%! Another way ELDs help businesses save money is by optimizing the shortest routes for reduced fuel costs.

 

More on driver coaching, did you know distracted driving that leads to accidents impacts businesses in more ways than just inconvenience? It’s true. An accident drains a companies wallet in terms of legal expenses, for the driver and anyone else involved, as well as downtime and any replacement costs.

 

By keeping tabs on drivers and their activities, companies can save on costly federal audits with HOS data that’s more reliable than reports written by people. (Hey, we’re human – mistakes happen!) ELDs are also able to provide maintenance reports, this comes in handy when a driver knows about a problem before they get sidelined, and have to spend more money on last-minute repairs as well as downtime.

 

Optimization is incredibly important in any business. By having the right tools to retrieve data that can reveal areas where a business has been lacking and can improve previously unknown inefficiencies, it can be a surprise to see how much can be saved financially.

 

Make It Rain Money GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

 

 

Click here to see our fully FMCSA compliant, easy to use ELD solutions

 

 

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How to Track Equipment: Construction, Hospitals, Warehouses

Tracking your Assets Locations

 

Companies understand that knowing where their assets are at all times is crucial. Whether this includes small tools or large equipment, keeping track of these assets helps companies prevent theft, loss, and damage. More so, ensuring a company’s assets are monitored can help save time and money- resulting in a more optimized, organized system. So how do you track equipment?

 

In recent years, beacons have been introduced to multiple industries for what appears to be a limitless amount of ways to utilize them to their full potential. Today we will be focusing on how some industries such as construction sites, hospitals, and warehouses have taken advantage of these beacons to track their equipment locations.

 

 

 

Bluetooth & Cellular Beacons – What’s the Difference?

 

Firstly, it is important to understand which companies would benefit from either Bluetooth or Cellular beacons. Simply put, Bluetooth beacons are a good option for companies who want to track their equipment in close proximity (a warehouse for example). Bluetooth beacons have limitations when it comes to their connectivity over long distances as they are limited to a specific range, but their advantage is that they are typically more cost-effective.

 

Cellular beacons, on the other hand, have more capabilities in terms of tracking equipment which are traveling longer distances, they also do not require mobile gateways and mobile apps to work unlike Bluetooth powered beacons.

 

 

Problem VS Solution

 

Losing equipment due to poor inventory management? Beacons help manage your inventory efficiently while saving you money. Arrived at a site only to find that equipment was forgotten? Beacons help ensure the equipment you require is in the vehicle before you leave.

 

how to track equipment

 

Not only that, but they also have embedded sensors that can measure things like impact, battery life, temperature, light exposure, and proximity. These beacons can be attached to equipment, tools, controlled temperature environments, and personnel to track climate management, equipment inventory, parts inventory, and personnel tracking.

 

 

Equipment Tracking for Hospitals

 

how to track equipment - hospital

 

Beacons have become a popular choice for hospitals because they help paramedics focus on saving lives instead of worrying about tracking their assets and emergency vehicles. They do this by helping paramedics know the location of stretchers, defibrillators, heart monitors and other important equipment.

 

By using the beacons, paramedics are able to receive immediate notifications for forgotten, lost or misplaced equipment while helping to uncover them by knowing who used them last and where. It is important for hospitals to track medical equipment and their usage with beacons as they streamline the maintenance of the equipment while saving money by eliminating loss and theft.

 

 

Equipment Tracking for Construction Companies

 

how to track equipment - construction

 

Construction companies are another popular industry that uses beacons regularly as they have multiple assets to monitor at construction sites – mainly large equipment. Because beacons can have waterproof enclosures and a range of 250 meters, they are a popular choice for construction companies to invest in, in order to monitor their small to heavy equipment.

 

Further, a permanent gateway for 24/7 inventory management can be installed. This way, when inventory leaves facilities it can be tracked along with the vehicle that transported the goods by tracking vehicles as they enter and leave a property or designated area. Upon arrival, the arrival time and location can be confirmed. Beacons also help construction companies save money by accurately costing jobs, reducing labor costs and overtime while improving worksite compliance.

 

 

Equipment Tracking for Warehouses

 

how to track equipment - warehouse

 

Warehouses keep track of endless kinds of goods, so they need a way to monitor different aspects in order to ensure the goods arrive at their final destination on time and in great shape. With the use of beacons, warehouses can receive real-time information on location, temperature, impact and light exposure as previously mentioned. These sensory additions to the beacons are crucial for sensitive goods.

 

Beacons provide the ability to track pallets in real time, confirm deliveries, and receive alerts when pallets enter or exit customer locations. With so many ways to optimize warehouse operations, beacons ultimately help to reduce labor costs as well as overtime in warehouse industries.

 

Knowing the benefits of beacons and how they can help improve operations in different industries can help optimize almost any business. Applying devices that help to monitor assets in more ways than just location is just the beginning; with the world of technology constantly evolving we are so excited to see where we go from here!

 

 

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FAQs – Asset Tracking Services