ATRI asks carriers to share ELD data for research

Dive Brief:

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has put out a call for trucking fleets to submit data from electronic logging devices (ELD) to support research into policy issues for the industry.
The ATRI is collecting data in response to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) call for a third-party clearinghouse where the data from the onboard devices recording truckers' hours of service could be stored and studied confidentially.
About 50 trucking companies have already signed up to submit their data, Transport Topics reported, and ATRI hopes hundreds of companies representing the spectrum of ELD fleets will participate eventually.

Dive Insight:

The ATRI plans to use real-world data generated during millions of truck miles to better understand driver and carrier safety, operations and productivity using the data available from ELDs.

Trucks equipped with an ELD generate 100 to 150 data points per load, according to Fourkites, a supply chain tracking company.

"In the right context, ELDs can provide the real-world data needed to guide future regulations and initiatives," said Andrew Boyle, co-president of Boyle Transportation and ATRI board member, in the announcement asking for ELD data.

ELDs track the truck's location and duty status, automating a formerly paper-based process. The ATRI expects ELD data to reveal how much time drivers actually spend in detention, waiting on shippers and receivers to load and unload, and in traffic congestion.

The ATRI already tracks information from 85,000 trucks, which helps shape industry policy positions on a range of issues including truck parking, border-crossing data and traffic congestion.

The ATRI would like up to 20% of the industry to participate, including large for-hire truckload fleets, LTL carriers, flatbeds, tankers and specialty carriers as well as private fleets. The ATRI will anonymize and protect data so that it's not used for any other purposes. The organization will hold a webinar in November for fleets interested in participating in the clearinghouse.