BigRoad made the trip down to Little Rock, Arkansas for the 2016 Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Annual Conference and Exhibition held from September 18 – 22.
Keeping Our Roads Safe
Over 650 people from across North America came together at the event to drive changes to the culture of transportation safety. The majority of attendees were government officials, enforcements agents (Highway Patrol, State, Patrol, Police, etc.), and industry leaders. Marcia Burgess (Director of Customer Success) and Mike Davies (VP of Product) were on-site representing BigRoad during the event.
Safety, Rules, and….Electronic Logging Devices
A number of topics were covered during the event including regulatory updates, legislations, and more specific regional and committee items. Participants got to sit down face-to-face to discuss, examine, and continue building upon the programs and initiatives managed by the CVSA. The hottest topic at the event – was obviously – the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
BigRoad was a title sponsor for the ELD Implementation Update session that was held on Monday afternoon. This 90 minute session covered some of the biggest questions fleets, enforcement agents, and even ELD manufactures have including the ELD self-certification process, inspector training & enforcement policies, and an update on the Canadian ELD progress.
Highlights from the Session
Most of the questions from audience members focused on the self-certification process, transitioning to ELDs, and technical specifications:
- Deadline Date
Audience members seemed skeptical that the ELD mandate deadline date(s) would be followed. When asked about delaying implementation deadlines, Associate Administrator for Enforcement and Program Delivery Bill Quade stated, “A year and three months is a long time. This is why we gave everybody two years. FMCSA has no intention of moving the date.“ - Web Specifications
Many vendors have not self-certified their ELD because the FMCSA has not released their Web Services feature. Under the ELD mandate technical specifications, ELDs are required to transmit data through this feature. Without having this feature available, how can a vendor be compliant?According to Quade, vendors ‘just need to know’ that their device is capable of transmitting data when the time comes. For most reputable companies, ‘just need to know’ it works isn’t a risk they’re willing to take and are opting to hold off on self-certification to ensure that their product is 100% compliant.
- Self-Certification Process
Audience members were concerned with the validity of the self-certification process and wanted to know how the FMCSA was planning to manage non-compliant devices once discovered. The FMCSA strongly recommened that fleets take the time to research ELD providers and ensure that the ELD provider can actually deliver on the promises they make (device hardware and software capabilities). The FMCSA will not be conducting regular audits of vendors and will only become involved once a non-compliant device is discovered.
The BigRoad team really enjoyed the event again this year! We want to thank everyone who stopped by the BigRoad booth to learn more about our solutions and those who shared their insights on inspections with us! We’re looking forward to next year in Yukon!