Well, it only took the trucking industry fifteen years, but it looks like we'll soon start to see more use of electronic logbooks. Instead of drivers having to play secretary everytime they stop, now they'll be able to log in their exact time on these e-logbooks.
The downside? Most cops don't yet have the technological ability to read these e-logs reports, so they'll have to manually figure out a driver's hours instead of having to go by paper printouts. Drivers aren't given names to log on to these things, but instead are given numbers (to protect them from identity theft!)
That's great, and all, but what's to stop driver number 1234 from logging on as driver 5678 just so he can drive longer? Hmmm... go figure.
It's not like we haven't had the technology needed to make these e-logs possible for a while now. We've had gps tracking, cell phone communications and wireless internet. I can't believe it took someone this long to put all these things together and just now come up with a gadget to make full use of all this technology to make a driver's life easier. To think it took a government mandate to enforce this sort of tracking and timekeeping. Sheez!
I had no idea log books were still kept on paper. I thought, like you, that that should have gone digital a long time ago. With all the gps etc, I'm surprised that the whole thing isn't automatic just have the driver log in and when the wheels roll time is logged, when they stop for a designated time the driver is down.
ReplyDeleteAs you said there's nothing to prevent the driver from having two id's. I like the number system.
I can't believe they haven't set up some sort of "swipe" system where a big truck will only start if it's turned on by a digital key. With the electronics on cars today, it should be easy to set up that sort of security and tracking system that would also generate easy-to-read reports or software that's already used by cops. Imagine what something like "OnStar" for big trucks could do!
ReplyDeleteI think that "OnStar" would be an excellent system. I have it on my pickup and when my check engine light came on, they could diagnose it and tell me if I cold continue to drive it and where the closest dealer was. I was amazed.
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