12 Apr 2024
ELDs concern everyone
The electronic logging mandate for US truck drivers takes effect Dec. 18, and many shippers and carriers are woefully unprepared. Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) surveyed by the Journal of Commerce and its partners prior to the conference were alarmed by the lack of preparation of many shippers, who seem to think ELDs are a carrier problem. “Shippers are in for a rude awakening” when that mandate takes effect Dec. 18, one logistics provider surveyed said, and that statement echoed across the logistics sector in the survey results.
“Shippers seem to be unconvinced of the impact,” another logistics service provider (LSP) said. “There is going to be a truck capacity shortage of significance in the first and second quarter,” a third LSP said.
The impact shippers really need to prepare for, speakers at the conference said, are longer transit times that could disrupt supply chains and potential penalties for detaining drivers at shipper or consignee docks too long. “The collaboration required across shipper and broker, carrier, and receiver is going to have to be taken to a level we haven’t had before,” Eric Lien, senior vice president of corporate development at Arrive Logistics, said during a panel.
Shippers need to re-examine the lengths of their routes and their shipping schedules to make sure there is no disruption to their supply chains during the transition to ELDs, speakers said, but that is just the start. They will also need to adopt more “best practices,” Lien said.
Original article posted on: www.joc.com
