Bracing for Impact of the Electronic Logging Device Mandate

The transportation industry is approaching a big milestone as the electronic logging device (ELD) takes effect on December 18, 2017. That's when more than 3 million truckers will need to be using some form of ELD to record a driver’s on- and off-duty hours. Improved highway safety is the main goal of the mandate and will come via reduced driver fatigue by limiting truckers to 11 hours of driving time and 14 overall on-duty hours per day. Stricter rule enforcement throughout the industry is anticipated.

Shippers everywhere are concerned that the ELD mandate will lead to reduced truck capacity in 2018. Most industry sources are predicting a 2 to 5 percent decrease in availability, while others believe the impact will be larger and vary from lane to lane. Rate increases for interstate transfers—not local pickups and deliveries—will be common.

Since Pilot is a non-asset based company, we rely on many partners to make our ground transportation services successful. “All of Pilot's major line-haul providers are in compliance with the ELD mandate,” says Tom Drake, executive vice president, domestic & Canadian operations. For those smaller companies that put off implementation in the hopes it would be postponed by the federal government, Tom says the good news is they can get compliant relatively quickly. 

Ho, Ho, Home Delivery by Pilot

We’re in the thick of it now: the holiday shopping season! Consumers everywhere are click, click, clicking on computers, tablets and phones to secure their treasures. Adobe Digital Insights, which measures 80 percent of the online transactions at the 100 largest Web retailers in the U.S., says that Cyber Monday 2017 is now the largest online shopping day in U.S. history at $6.59 billion in sales, which is more than a $1 billion increase over last year!

But ordering may just be the easy part. As a logistics expert in the home delivery arena, we know the behind-the-scenes dance that is choreographed to deliver a smooth performance is nothing to be taken lightly. Oversized freight and large consumer products need to be handled with care and so do our customers. Since the early 2000’s, we’ve been working hard to ensure that our delivery options meet a variety of needs and requests, including weekend delivery and by appointment. For your convenience and our efficiency, we’ve developed COMPASS, an easy-to-use interface used to schedule the date and time you want that new elliptical, 4K TV or coveted massage chair to arrive.

Flexibility, dependability and superior service. When Pilot is driving, nobody makes it easier, at any time of the year!