Taking a Look at Geotab Drive

July 27, 2015

Geotab-Drive-HOS

Author: Stephanie Voelker, Sales Manager

Geotab Drive is Geotab’s Hours of Service electronic logging device (ELD) and vehicle inspection application. The FMCSA is the governing body that regulates commercial driving.  The FMCSA is preparing to release a new set of rules in September, 2015. The changes to the regulations add clarity around the types of devices, the ways in which they are allowed to communicate, and what data must be presented and how. These regulations have been argued and debated for the last several years and the rule set is highly anticipated.

Geotab is working hard to ensure our devices are fully compliant with the new, upcoming ELD rules. They are expected to be released in September of 2015 and fleets will have to switch from paper logs to electronic logs. The transition period is different depending on whether or not fleets are already using electronic logs or are still using paper logs. Any CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle) has to transition to ELD from paper logs within 2 years of the release of the rules. Anyone using an AOBRD on the date of the release of the new regulations has 4 years to make the transition to the new ELD rules.

The Benefits of Geotab Drive

The Geotab Drive application is featured on the Geotab Marketplace and is currently available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for Android. Today the application connects to the Geotab GO Device to provide an automated process for creating accurate records of the time a commercial driver spends in each duty status: On Duty Not Driving, Driving, Sleeper Berth, and Off Duty. The system is easy to use and offers the driver more time to complete his daily tasks by simplifying the burden of documenting his time. By automating the driver logs and vehicle inspection reporting, fleets are finding as much as an extra hour a day depending on the number of duty status changes a driver is required to record. That translates into a whole lot of added productivity, not to mention the accuracy of the reports is much higher. The back office supervisor has visibility to drivers’ availability and violations for not correctly recording hours, which is all but unheard of.

Where is Geotab Drive heading?

While all of these features provide amazing advantages to fleets, the awesome future ofGeotab Drive is even more compelling. Geotab is adding support for two way messaging for ease of dispatch and safe communication with the driver. Just like MyGeotab offers the ability to add additional functionality to the base software, Geotab is about to release the same add-in functionality to the Geotab Drive application. This will allow end user fleets and other value added partners to add functionality directly into the Drive application.

For example, an add-in that shows a driver how many on-time deliveries he made today based on his routing and scheduling software, or how closely he met the estimated miles on the projected route from the routing and scheduling program. Another option would be to provide the driver interface to a dispatch application where a driver has one application for all of his in-vehicle needs for HOS and dispatch.