Can We Really Trust E-Logs? 4 Problems Truckers See

It’s clear that e-logs are a divisive issue. You have transportation bureaus like the FMCSA pushing them, but then plenty of trucker advocates are against them.

And as the mandates kick in, we begin to wonder… can we really trust e-logs? And what headaches will they create for truckers around the country?

Search and Seizure

The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

OOIDA is arguing that e-logs are tracking truckers without warrants, which constitutes illegal search and seizure, thus violating drivers’ fourth amendment rights.

Will e-logs grant law enforcement the ability to monitor the movement and activities of real people?

Cost of Burden

When you get down to it, new technology is cool. We’re not denying that!

But who is gonna foot the bill for e-log devices? We’ve heard from many truckers, and a lot are convinced it’ll fall on them.

How? Well, we know driver safety is the big concern, but some truckers are worried they will have to cut their schedules short if they need to worry about e-logs at the same time.

Freight needs to arrive when freight needs to arrive. That’s kind of the core concept of trucking, isn’t it?

If a driver can’t make a haul on time due to some e-log issue, that really just hurts their financial success, doesn’t it?

Safety Concerns

When you get down to it, driver intuition will always trump a glorified GPS log telling you what is best.

And we agree that driver safety is important. It’s one of our core beliefs!

But let’s make sure that e-logs don’t overtake driver intuition.

We like the notion that accountability will scale upwards, and that this can keep companies from forcing truckers to make dangerous choices.

But let’s make sure the e-logging devices are for the benefit of the driver, and not just a way to check a box on a company’s insurance forms.

Harassment Issues

Are drivers going to be harassed? That’s what one big concern comes down to.

OOIDA has taken on the ELD mandate before, having complained that the law didn’t provide adequate safeguards to ensure trucking companies wouldn’t use the logs to harass drivers.

And now they’re saying we’re back to the same issue.

We know the FMCSA means well, but driver harassment is going to be something the industry needs to watch even more than ever.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how the whole mandate will turn out for our industry.

And right now, we have more pressing issues. There is an upcoming IFTA deadline you don’t want to miss! If you have any questions about generating your IFTA report with ExpressIFTA, give us a call at (704)234-6005.

Where will the e-log mandate take us? We’ll have to watch out and see.

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