Electronic Logging Device Research Articles

Property Rights Restrictions and Self-Employed Workers: Evidence From For-Hire Owner–Operators in U.S. Trucking

In 2019, self-employed individuals in the United States owned and operated more than 27 million nonemployer firms and generated more than $1.3 trillion in revenue. Our study examines how self-employed workers adjust their operations in response to an exogenous regulatory change that places limits on how they can utilize their productive assets. Extending modern property rights theory of the firm (PRTF), we studied how self-employed for-hire truck drivers modified their operations in response to the required installation of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in their vehicles. The introduction of ELDs bolstered enforcement of preexisting legal hours-of-service limits, thereby weakening the drivers’ ability to accept hauls above statutory hours-of-service limits and reducing the strength of their economic property rights. Our difference-in-differences analysis that relies on self-employed truck drivers exempt from the ELD regulation as a control group reveals that the restrictions imposed by the ELD mandate, while effective at curbing major hours-of-service violations, prompted a change in a host of market behaviors among affected drivers, including a shift toward working as subcontractors, decreased labor supply, and increased exit rates from the industry. These findings contribute to the literature on PRTF. First, our findings underscore the significance of economic property rights in shaping self-employed workers’ operating decisions as legal property rights were largely left unchanged under the ELD regulation. Second, our findings with respect to subcontracting highlight that property rights restrictions placed on asset attributes may prompt self-employed workers to unbundle economic property rights and allocate them to exchange partners better equipped to maximize the economic value reaped from these rights. Such transfer of economic property rights common to intermediate forms of organizational design such as subcontracting embodies a multidimensional view of economic property rights. By demonstrating a range of consequences of restricting self-employed workers’ economic property rights, our study carries important implications for theory, managers, and policymakers.

Men at Work…Unsafely: Gender Differences in Compliance with Safety Regulations in the Trucking Industry

Although safety within operational systems depends on compliance with regulations, non-compliance is common in many settings. Trucking is a meaningful industry for studying operational safety compliance given that the industry is large and important, truck accidents kill thousands annually, and such accidents collectively cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. Although the truck driving occupation is dominated by men, significant efforts are underway to recruit more women into the profession. If women are safer behind the wheel than men, increasing their ranks could improve overall safety compliance. Building on theory and evidence suggesting that men have a greater willingness to take risky actions and break rules, we used data on 22 million truck inspections from 2010 to 2022 to identify an operational safety compliance gap between men and women truckers. Overall, men were 7.4% more likely to be cited for a major violation of rules governing working hours (known as hours-of-service or HOS rules) and 13.2% more likely to have a major unsafe driving violation. We then examined whether gap changes based on carrier size and type. We found that the HOS compliance gap is smaller for small carriers (vs. large) and private carriers (vs. for-hire), but not the unsafe driving gap. Finally, we tested whether the introduction of an intervention—electronic logging devices (ELDs) that automatically record truckers’ driving hours—closes the gap by increasing men's compliance. In line with predictions, differences between men and women disappeared after the mandate; but again, only for HOS compliance. Surprisingly, women had significantly more HOS violations in 2021 and 2022 than men—an outcome that may be tied to women truckers’ personal safety issues. In summary, the results and additional robustness checks indicate that men committed more unsafe driving violations (e.g., speeding) than women across the entire study period, while the pattern of HOS violations varied based on external events. We conclude by highlighting possible pathways for reducing the number of collisions involving trucks and thus lowering the number of fatalities and extent of economic losses.

Predicting and understanding long-haul truck driver turnover using driver-level operational data and supervised machine learning classifiers

Truck drivers are essential to modern supply chains. However, the companies that employ them are having trouble keeping them. At many trucking firms, annual turnover rates approach 100 percent or higher. This paper develops a method for predicting individual truck driver turnover events before they happen by applying supervised machine learning classifiers to a new source of operational truck driver data. Our paper uses Electronic Logging Device (ELD) data, which comprise newly federally-mandated, time-stamped work logs collected from approximately 1200 American long-haul truck drivers over 3 years. We train three supervised machine learning classifiers (logistic regression, random forests, and support vector machines) on this data and achieve 60 to 70 percent prediction accuracy and 50 to 60 percent recall across two 5-fold cross-validated experiments. We observe that the quantity and consistency of week-day driving assignments explain most of our models’ predictive power. We offer these results as both a new technical tool, as well as novel managerial insights for improving global truck driver retention problems for the benefit of supply chains worldwide.

СВІТОВИЙ ДОСВІД ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ПРИСТРОЇВ РЕЄСТРАЦІЇ ПЕРІОДІВ РОБОТИ ТА ВІДПОЧИНКУ ВОДІЇВ

The article presents the main stages of the development of systems of accounting and control over the periods of work and rest of drivers, which are established by the acts of the EU (EEC) and the USA. The prospects of technical regulation regarding the introduction of tech-nical systems in the construction of vehicles, the purpose of which is similar to the main purpose of modern tachographs, are described. The main characteristics of tachographs used in EU member states and AETR contracting parties and electronic recording devices (ELDs) used in the USA at various stages of the technical levels of these systems are given. In particular, it’s shown that the prescriptions that are in force in the EU now have a prelim-inary legal basis which was laid down in 1965, and the prescriptions that in force today in the USA – respectively, in 1937. Regarding technical systems, the purpose of which is similar to the purpose of a tachograph, the article provides a description of the block of requirements in rela-tion to general safety introduced by Regulation (EU) 2019/2144. The main features of the transition from recording the periods of work and rest of drivers on paper sheets to registration via analogue tachographs, digital and smart tachographs in the European system and, accordingly, using automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRD) and electronic logging devices (ELD) in USA are presented. In particular, it was highlighted that in the USA the transition from paper sheets to auto-mated registration systems took place for about 30 years, while in the European Union (EEC) it took about 10 years. It is also worth noting that the time difference between the introduction of the mandatory use of automated registration systems in the EU (EEC) and the USA was about 40 years. The requirements of the EU and US acts that apply to the design, functions and characteris-tics of tachographs and ELD devices are given. A comparative analysis of the requirements of the acts in force in the EU and the USA was carried out. This analysis identified differences in the «European» and «American» approaches in part, in particular, the procedures used in the EU, such as the type approval of tachographs and the circulation of cards. Recommendations are provided regarding measures aimed at further improving the level of perfection of tachographs as registration systems for monitoring compliance with social legisla-tion and certain indicators that have an impact on the safety of transportation. Keywords: tachograph, electronic logging device, ELD device, social legislation, periods of work and rest of drivers, AETR Agreement, smart-tachograph.

Establishing links between safety culture, climate, behaviors, and outcomes of long-haul truck drivers

Introduction: This paper examines the safety relationships between safety culture, safety influences, safety climate, and safety outcomes for long-haul truck drivers. The relationships focus on the intersection of the electronic logging device (ELD) technology, regulations, and truck drivers that fall into the lone-worker category. Results: Through research questions, links between safety culture and safety climate were established with links between the layers. Conclusions: The implementation of the ELD system was associated with safety outcomes.

Assessing interstate softwood roundwood trade in the southern United States: a gravity trade model approach

Intraregional trade of forest products is a critical component of regional and subregional timber markets in terms of supply chain planning and locating forest product manufacturing facilities. Based on a gravity trade model, we evaluated the various factors driving the interstate flows of softwood sawlog and roundwood pulpwood in the 13 southern US states: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. Biennial state-level panel data from 2011 to 2019 in 13 southern states were employed to estimate empirical sawlog and pulpwood trade models. The results suggest that state gross domestic product (GDP) of importing states, exporter and importer production, importer consumption, the distance between the trading partners, and the electronic logging device mandate are influential factors of softwood sawlog trade between the states. Similarly, state GDP, exporter pulpwood production, importer consumption, the distance between the trading partners, delivered timber prices, and pellet mill capacity in each state are found to be significant determinants of softwood pulpwood trade between the partners across the state borderlines. The findings provide forest managers and policy makers with additional insights on the growing bilateral timber trade dynamics in regional and subregional markets in the southern United States.

Treatment guided by fractional exhaled nitric oxide in addition to standard care in 6- to 15-year-olds with asthma: the RAACENO RCT

BackgroundThe role of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in guiding asthma treatment in children is uncertain.ObjectiveTo compare treatment guided by both fractional exhaled nitric oxide and symptoms (intervention) with treatment guided by symptoms alone (standard care) in children with asthma who are at risk of an asthma exacerbation, in terms of the number of asthma exacerbations over 12 months.DesignThis was a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial with embedded cost-effectiveness and qualitative process evaluations. Randomisation (1 : 1) was carried out using a remote web-based system and was minimised on recruitment centre, age, sex and British Thoracic Society treatment step. Clinical teams and participants were not blind to treatment allocation.SettingThe trial took place in 35 hospitals and seven primary care practices in the UK.ParticipantsChildren aged 6–15 years with a diagnosis of asthma who were currently prescribed inhaled corticosteroids and who had one or more parent-/patient-reported asthma exacerbation treated with oral corticosteroids in the 12 months prior to recruitment.InterventionsAsthma treatment guided by symptoms alone (standard care) and asthma treatment guided by symptoms plus fractional exhaled nitric oxide (intervention). Treatment recommendations in both groups were protocolised within a web-based algorithm, incorporating inhaled corticosteroid adherence (objectively measured using an electronic logging device) and current treatment.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was asthma exacerbations treated with oral corticosteroids in the year post randomisation. Secondary outcomes included time to first exacerbation, number of exacerbations, lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, daily dose of inhaled corticosteroid, asthma control and quality of life.ResultsIn total, 509 eligible participants were recruited and the primary outcome was available for 506 participants. The primary outcome occurred in 123 out of 255 (48.2%) participants in the intervention group and 129 out of 251 (51.4%) participants in the standard-care group (adjusted odds ratio 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 1.27). There was algorithm non-compliance on 21% of assessments. Per-protocol and complier-average causal effect analysis did not change the interpretation. This non-statistically significant estimate was consistent across predefined subgroups. There were no differences between the groups in secondary outcomes. There were no serious adverse events or deaths. No meaningful differences in health service costs, direct patient costs or indirect costs to society were identified between the groups. The economic evaluation does not provide evidence to support the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. In the qualitative process evaluation, 15 trial staff and six families were interviewed. Overall, their experiences were positive. The intervention was broadly acceptable, with caveats around clinicians using the algorithm recommendation as a guide and wariness around extreme step ups/downs in treatment in the light of contextual factors not being taken into account by the algorithm.LimitationsPotential limitations included the choice of cut-off point to define uncontrolled asthma and the change in fractional exhaled nitric oxide to trigger a change in treatment. Furthermore, the treatment decisions in the two groups may not have been sufficiently different to create a difference in outcomes.ConclusionsThe RAACENO (Reducing Asthma Attacks in Children using Exhaled Nitric Oxide) trial findings do not support the routine use of fractional exhaled nitric oxide measurements as part of asthma management in a secondary care setting. The potential for other objective markers to guide asthma management in children needs to be evaluated.Trial registrationThis trial was registered as ISRCTN67875351.FundingThis project was funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, a MRC and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) partnership. This will be published in full inEfficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; Vol. 9, No. 4. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

The Potential for Increased Emissions Due to the Electronic Logging Device Mandate

The Potential for Increased Emissions Due to the Electronic Logging Device Mandate

Impact of electronic logging devices on fatigue and work environment in Canadian long-haul truck drivers

IntroductionLong-haul truck drivers (LHTD) work long hours, often driving while fatigued, resulting in an increased risk of crashes. To reduce fatigue, all LHTD will be required to implement an electronic logging device (ELD) in Canada. The purpose of this study was to (1) compare fatigue and the work environment in LHTDs using an ELD to those who were not; and 2) assess LHTD perceptions of using an ELD. MethodsLHTD were recruited across two Western Canadian provinces from seven different truck stops. The sample consisted of 59 LHTD who completed surveys and interviews. ResultsThe average age of the participants was 53.0±12.9 y (range 23–89); 95% were men. LHTD using ELDs reported significantly better quality of sleep and being less fatigued. LHTD reported being less stressed when using an ELD; however, its intended use was complicated by the lack of suitable parking areas. While some LHTD considered the ELDs easier and faster to use, some also found using the technology difficult to learn. Some LHTD were also concerned that ELD use would reduce income potential. ConclusionOur evidence showed that ELD use reduced fatigue and reported stress in LHTD. While the ELD is meant to reduce fatigue and ensure compliance of the hours-of-service regulations, issues surrounding appropriate parking zones and the perceptions of lost income from using ELDs require consideration.

Impact of Truck Parking Facilities on Commercial and Industrial Land Values: A Spatial Hedonic Model

Strategic locations for truck parking capacity expansion should be selected to maximize benefits to drivers and industry while minimizing negative externalities to communities. To select strategic locations, local governments, developers, state transportation agencies, and private truck stop operators need to understand how parking facilities affect local economies. Although sufficient parking capacity allows drivers to adhere to federally mandated rest requirements, demand for safe parking is outpacing supply. Truck parking demand is likely to grow as freight tonnage is estimated to increase 1.2% per year between 2018 and 2045 and mandates for electronic logging devices go into effect. However, truck parking facilities can be viewed by local communities and real-estate developers as producing pollution, noise, and congestion. Yet, they may also represent economic opportunities for tax revenues for the local economy and agglomeration benefits for surrounding trucking-related industries. To address these concerns, a systematic, data-driven review of the economic impacts of truck parking facilities is critical. This paper applied a spatial-autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances to estimate the impact on commercial and industrial land values attributed to proximity to truck parking facilities. Significant benefits to local land values were found: every 1% increase in distance from a parking facility was associated with a 0.284% decrease in land values, which corresponds to a $2,465/acre reduction in value for an average parcel. The findings of the study could help transportation agencies and truck stop operators strategically locate truck parking facilities to harness the economic benefits to local communities.

Impact analysis: electronic logging devices in the transportation industry

Impact analysis: electronic logging devices in the transportation industry

The Electronic Logging Device Mandate and Costs for Refrigerated Citrus


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Speedy truck transportation is required to get products like fresh produce from the farm to the grocery store before it spoils. The Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could significantly affect trucking costs for agricultural producers. This 6-page publication written by Tara Wade, Shellye Suttles, and Derek Farnsworth and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Departmentuses truck shipment data to analyze transportation costs and identifies potential future effects of the ELD Mandate.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1086
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pricing Dynamics in the Truckload Sector: The Moderating Role of the Electronic Logging Device Mandate

Most truckload freight in the United States is priced using long‐term contracts. It is widely recognized in industry that contract prices evolve based on prices shippers pay for one‐time spot market transactions. This research examines whether the impact of spot market prices on contract prices has become more pronounced following the start of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate. We draw on economic theories regarding how firms process information to explain why the ELD mandate, by reducing carriers’ ability to artificially adjust capacity up or down as spot prices changed, should strengthen this relationship. To test this prediction, we construct a database that combines monthly proprietary spot market pricing data from DAT Solutions with monthly public contract pricing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We test our predictions using time series regression and evaluate the robustness of our findings using both instrumental variable estimation and seemingly unrelated regression to rule out reverse causality. Consistent with our theorizing, we further this relationship has become more pronounced since the ELD mandate started. We explain the importance of these findings to theory and practice.

Unintended responses to IT‐enabled monitoring: The case of the electronic logging device mandate

AbstractResearch shows that electronic monitoring technologies can reduce illicit agent (e.g., frontline worker) behavior along monitored dimensions such that principals (e.g., firms) benefit. Drawing on theory from criminology regarding the concept of offense displacement, we explain why the benefits from increased monitoring may be mitigated if agents subsequently increase other types of illicit acts not subject to greater monitoring. We investigate this possibility by examining how a mandate requiring millions of truck drivers to adopt electronic logging devices to record their working hours affected different safety behaviors and outcomes. Using data from millions of driver inspections and crash counts before and after the mandate and a differences‐in‐differences identification strategy, we find greater monitoring due to the mandate achieved its first‐order effect of reducing the frequency that drivers were in non‐compliance with work hour rules (the monitored dimension). However, drivers for small firms that were most affected by the mandate also appear to have increased their frequency of unsafe driving (e.g., speeding). We also find that crash counts for small firms did not fall relative to large firms, and may have increased. These results call into question whether increased electronic monitoring has improved safety in this industry.

A data-driven systematic approach for identifying and classifying long-haul truck parking locations

Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) parking is an important issue for commercial drivers due to concerns regarding parking supply, hours-of-service (HOS) laws, and electronic logging device (ELD) mandates. HOS laws are intended to reduce driver fatigue while ELD mandates ensure strict HOS compliance. Unfortunately, inadequate HCV parking availability may force drivers to make an undesirable choice: park illegally in a potentially unsafe location or drive longer than the law permits and face fines for HOS violations. These outcomes occur frequently throughout Canada and the United States, leading to safety and financial concerns for government jurisdictions and the broader public.Despite the importance of this topic, we lacked an exhaustive classification scheme for the systematic analysis of truck parking in a given area. Many studies have considered only public rest areas and likely underestimated the actual amount of viable HCV parking supply. Without accurate data on HCV parking locations and deficiencies, jurisdictions are unable to make optimal decisions.This paper developed a set of categories that can be used to classify locations used by HCV drivers for rest breaks on long journeys. The categories are based on a thorough literature review and detailed GPS data obtained for our study area in Peel Region, Ontario, Canada. The categories are exhaustive in that they include all HCV parking locations, both legal and unauthorized. The data-driven systematic approach contributes towards a better understanding of HCV parking supply for long-haul truck trips.

Impact Analysis: Electronic Logging Devices in the Transportation Industry

A disruptive digital transformation in the transportation industry recently arrived in the form of an electronic logging devices (ELDs), which serves to replace paper and pen logging of driving hours. The government mandate went into effect in December of 2017 with touted benefits primarily in the form of safety improvements. This research explores the first 12 months of this transformation by interviewing professionals affected by the mandate and by reviewing the still fresh and scarce literature. The results point to short and long-term challenges with which the fleet operators must grapple with before realising the value proposition promised by this digital transformation. The paper offers to practitioners structured summaries of the findings and recommendations for successful implementation of ELDs in order to become fully compliant with the law. Policymakers can gain insights from this study to understand weaknesses of the mandate in the current form. Altogether, this paper brings awareness of benefits and costs of the mandate to all affected stakeholders.

Reducing Asthma Attacks in Children using Exhaled Nitric Oxide as a biomarker to inform treatment strategy: a randomised trial (RAACENO)

BackgroundChildhood asthma is a common condition. Currently there is no validated objective test which can be used to guide asthma treatment in children. This study tests the hypothesis that the addition of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) monitoring in addition to standard care reduces the number of exacerbations (or attacks) in children with asthma.MethodsThis is a multi-centre, randomised controlled study. Children will be included of age 6–16 years who have a diagnosis of asthma, currently use inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) and have had an exacerbation in the previous 12 months. Exclusion criteria include being unable to provide FENO measurement at baseline assessment, having another chronic respiratory condition and being currently treated with maintenance oral steroids. Participants will be recruited in both primary and secondary care settings and will be randomised to either receive asthma treatment guided by FENO plus symptoms (FENO group) or asthma treatment guided by symptoms only (standard care group). Within the FENO group, different treatment decisions will be made dependent on changes in FENO. Participants will attend assessments 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post randomisation. The primary outcome is asthma exacerbation requiring prescription and/or use of an oral corticosteroid over 12 months as recorded by the participant/parent or in general practitioner records. Secondary outcomes include time to first attack, number of attacks, asthma control score and quality of life. Adherence to ICS treatment is objectively measured by an electronic logging device. Participants are invited to participate in a “phenotyping” assessment where skin prick reactivity and bronchodilator response are determined and a saliva sample is collected for DNA extraction. Qualitative interviews will be held with participants and research nurses. A health economic evaluation will take place.DiscussionThis study will evaluate whether FENO can provide an objective index to guide and stratify asthma treatment in children.Trial registrationISRCTN, ISRCTN67875351. Registered on 12 April 2017. Prospectively registered.

U.S. truckers race to deploy electronic logging devices: Early data suggests the technology is making the roads safer - [News

As time runs out for U.S. truckers to upgrade to electronic logging devices to track how long they're on the road, data from drivers who've already made the switch indicates that the controversial systems are working as intended.

76 Shipping calves to the Southern Great Plains: Impact of mode, timing, distance and cattle type

Abstract This presentation will discuss historical transportation information, recommendations and available transportation data. Stocker and feeder cattle transportation in the U.S. is virtually unchanged in the last five decades. Transportation stress continues to be accepted as an important factor in the morbidity and mortality of cattle shipped to Southern Great Plains feedyards and stocker operations. Transportation research has occurred in bits and pieces that provide glimpses into mechanisms involved but in general the results are puzzle pieces that have had little influence on transportation techniques. The Electronic Logging Device (ELD) use mandate in livestock hauling will impact stocker and feeder transport to the Great Plains. The extent of which is not yet known and recent delays in implementation with concurrent “exceptions” and “adjustments” make it unclear what the future will hold for stocker and feeder cattle transportation. The Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) has in recent decades developed voluntary livestock handling and transportation training for their customers. Some of the training has been accomplished in a partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The first of these were the “Focal Point” training and “Master Transporter Guide.” More recent, NCBA has developed Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Transportation certification training for both “Farmer/Rancher” and “Professional Drivers.” Packers have embraced this effort and the major packers currently require all drivers delivering livestock to their operations to be certified. The NCBA BQA Transportation training certification is applicable to stocker and feeder drivers hauling cattle to the Great Plains, but currently it is rare that stocker and feeder operations require drivers to have transportation certification that bring cattle to their operations. Interesting and useful data will be reviewed, such as transportation data collected from Dr. Richeson and Dr. Lawrence at West Texas A&M University. Finding examples include; cattle during transportation can take thousands of steps while on in the semi-trailer with differing number of steps and G-Forces being recorded for cattle on the top deck compared to cattle on the lower deck.

Electronic Logging Device Compliance of Small and Medium Size Motor Carriers Prior to the December 18, 2017, Mandate

With few exceptions, motor carriers operating in the United States were required to install electronic logging devices (ELDs) as of December 18, 2017. Noncompliance exposed carriers to risk of fines from enforcement agencies. This research examines compliance behaviors of small and medium size carriers in the four months leading up to the ELD mandate, focusing on the effects of carriers’ size and geographic range of operation (e.g., regional vs. national). Drawing on sociological agency theory, new institutional theory, and theory regarding regulatory compliance, we explain why (1) carriers’ size displays a nonlinear relationship with ELD compliance, (2) the positive effect of carrier size on ELD compliance diminishes as the enforcement deadline approached, (3) carriers with operations covering wider geographic areas have higher rates of compliance, and (4) the effect of wider geographic range of operations on compliance will become more pronounced as the enforcement deadline approached. We test our theory using ELD compliance data collected by an industry data vendor, CarrierLists, from September 2017 through December 2017 from 3,910 motor carriers. Results from a series of discrete choice logistic regression models corroborate our predictions. These results have important implications for carriers, shippers, and regulators.