How to Adjust Your KPIs For the New ELD Mandate

The Canadian trucking industry will face some fundamental changes with the Canadian Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate. It’s important for trucking companies to understand how the regulations will impact the business and capitalize on them.  

The new mandate will require most commercial trucks to have a compliant ELD installed starting June 12, 2021, with a progressive 12-month phased-in enforcement period and a 3-month penalty-free period. As you may know, ELDs digitally record a driver’s Hours of Service (HoS) to reduce driver fatigue and the likelihood of road accidents.  

To ensure businesses are getting the highest return on their ELD investments, fleet owners will be looking to adjust their high-level key performance indicators (KPIs) to account for efficiency, safety compliance, driver support, and customer satisfaction.  

Why KPIs Are Critical for Your Company    

Key performance indicators are a necessary measurement for any business. KPIs help trucking companies identify where improvements are needed and how they can optimize areas of the fleet that are performing well.  

KPIs also allow you to compare metrics within certain time periods to discover patterns for growth. For example, suppose your fuel economy increases in Q2 compared to Q1. In that case, you may find that a routing change in Q2 helped drivers avoid high traffic areas and deliver their loads faster, therefore using less fuel per kilometer driven.  

Through data analytics and innovative features, ELD technology can help fleets not only measure KPIs but improve them. One of the best ways to do this is by taking advantage of integrated software that enhances efficiency, such as Drivewyze PreClear® weigh station bypass service.  

The Top 4 Trucking KPIs Optimized by ELDs   

1. Efficiency & Profitability KPIs   

ELD technology can alter how a fleet measures its efficiency, especially as it relates to equipment utilization and trip management. To account for these changes, owners and managers will likely need to adjust current efficiency benchmarks. KPIs used by larger Canadian trucking companies often include: 

• Average delivery time 
• Detention or dwell time 
• Empty miles 

Keep in mind that an ELD and its software add-ons introduce new KPIs to the business, so managers will want to measure how effectively those features are being used and any new benefit the software provides. For example, if your ELD is equipped with a weigh station bypass software, it’s important to track how many bypasses your fleet is receiving and the resulting time and money saved.   

Since improved efficiency can help reduce operational costs and increase deliveries, trucking companies might also consider adjusting their profitability metrics and other financial KPIs, which typically cover: 

• Cost per kilometer driven  
• Fuel economy 
• Target revenues and net profits  

Fleets can digitize most of their day-to-day operations through ELD features like digital logging and smart routing. This provides an opportunity for fleets to dramatically improve efficiency and profitability in a way that meets and exceeds their new benchmarks. 

2. Safety KPIs

By digitally logging every driver’s HoS, ELDs minimize the potential for non-compliance, fatigue, and accidents. To account for these improvements, fleets might need to adjust benchmarks for safety and compliance KPIs, such as: 

• Safety inspections 
• Crash reports 
• Safety ratings 
• Time spent at weigh stations 

Many ELDs also offer additional safety features, like built-in dash cams, and integrated safety software, like Drivewyze Safety+. These ELD add-ons provide drivers with proactive alerts for speeding and dangerous highway zones, plus hands-free notifications to assist them with parking.  

Through integrated weigh station bypass software, fleets can also take advantage of hard-earned safety ratings and improve their ratings over time. The software can automatically transmit data to scale houses at 47 operational and in-progress states and provinces, including Ontario and Alberta. With a full overview of oncoming trucks, the scale house can then grant bypasses to fleets with satisfactory safety ratings.  

Setting new target KPIs in conjunction with these safety improvements will help you understand where inspections are happening, how safety ratings can be improved, and what can be altered to protect your drivers even more. 

3. Driver-Facing KPIs  

The Canadian ELD mandate will impact employees at every level of the fleet, especially drivers. Many companies will consider adjusting their people metrics to account for the many benefits an ELD provides. Standard employee KPIs for top-tiered trucking companies include:  

• Driver retention and turnover rates  
• Employee satisfaction rates 
• Performance grades 

Drivers have to deal with a number of frustrations on the job, including road delays and excruciatingly long line-ups at weigh station scale houses. These daily stresses often have a negative effect on the above KPIs, leading to low driver satisfaction scores, poor performance, and high turnover rates.  

However, through innovative communication features, enhanced trip management, and weigh station bypass software, ELD technology can relieve many of the delays truck drivers face. A recent Drivewyze survey found that 74% of drivers considered a bypass program extremely valuable when pursuing a commercial trucking job opportunity.  

To understand how the upcoming mandate will make every driver’s job easier and improve employee KPIs over time, adjust driver-facing targets with ELD technology in mind. 

4. Customer-Facing KPIs  

The Canadian ELD mandate will change how efficient and safe your fleet is and how happy your drivers are. As a result, consumer expectations will also change. To keep up with evolving consumer relationships, most fleet owners will likely adjust benchmarks for customer-facing KPIs, such as:  

• Customer lifetime value (CLV)
• Customer satisfaction rates 
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) 

Through integrated software, ELDs improve en route communication and reduce road delays. This allows drivers to deliver freight faster, creating space to onboard more customers in the process.  

These ELD-based improvements will change what your clients expect from your fleet. Customers might start anticipating quicker response times, proactive delivery notifications, or speedier deliveries overall. By tailoring your KPI metrics to these new expectations, you can track the value they bring to your fleet and how satisfied your customers are with your services.  

Innovate Your ELD to Keep Improving KPIs 

Once KPIs are adjusted for efficiency and profitability, safety, driver retention, and customer satisfaction, fleets can assess how their chosen ELDs are improving the new benchmarks.  

As fleet owners discover which areas of the business still need to be improved upon, they can invest in new ELD software to boost profits. For example, if you’re consistently missing your benchmark for time spent at weigh stations, you can implement Drivewyze PreClear onto your ELD to work toward fewer scale house inspections on route. These types of software add-ons can be installed without needing additional hardware.  

With or without the mandate, ELDs are an important investment for fleets to move toward a fully connected truck and improve business performance from top to bottom. To help adjust and improve your KPIs, ensure you select an ELD provider that already has beneficial software installed, like Drivewyze PreClear®. If they don’t, ask your provider for a free trial of Drivewyze for your fleet.