February 7, 2016

By: TARA CELLINESE
SENIOR MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Omnitracs Outlook 2016 just wrapped up last week, but our attendees are still very much abuzz about the education they gained and experiences had. One session that stood out in education value and for its important takeaways was, “ELD Mandate: What Does it Mean Now and Moving Forward?” delivered by Joe DeLorenzo, director, Office of Enforcement and Compliance for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This session couldn’t have been timed better, given that it came on the heels of the final ELD ruling and that the entire industry is in the beginning stages of interpreting and understanding the implications and applications of this very complex rule. With the entire audience tuned in and concentrating on his every word, DeLorenzo walked through the ELD Mandate in great detail, educating attendees on what the regulation means today, in the coming months, and what further actions may be forthcoming.

In his extremely informative session, DeLorenzo highlighted a few key takeaways, including:

  • Patience. Everyone in the industry is transitioning. It is not only drivers and dispatchers that are preparing for the change from paper to electronic logs, but also enforcement officers. They too have to learn the standards and how to enforce them in order to achieve safer roads.
  • Know the rule. Having read the 516-page ruling front and back — multiple times — DeLorenzo can’t emphasize enough how important it is to read through and understand the rule. He also recommends educational webinars and staying on top of industry news developments as a way to enhance your understanding. Omnitracs offers regular webinars and our recent December webinar, “The ELD Mandate: Are You Prepared? addressed many common questions that we field from our customers about compliance as it relates to the mandate.
  • Don’t procrastinate. DeLorenzo strongly advised that fleets take advantage of the transition period to identify how ELDs will work within your fleet operations. We concur. With the final ruling out now, there is no need to delay and approach the deadline in a rushed fashion. Fleets that are beginning the transition now will start to experience the benefits beyond compliance and see the impact on their bottom line.

Omnitracs has been extremely lucky to have DeLorenzo join us for our past two user conferences. His knowledge, insight, and experience were a welcomed addition to the program and it was extremely helpful to attendees.