The Packer: Survey reveals muted supply effect of ELD enforcement
There was concern about the electronic device mandate draining truckload capacity out of the market after the enforcement deadline, but DAT Solutions said data doesn’t reflect that.
There was concern about the electronic device mandate draining truckload capacity out of the market after the enforcement deadline, but DAT Solutions said data doesn’t reflect that.
Despite concerns that the hard ELD enforcement deadline would suck capacity out of the freight market, DAT is not seeing that, according to DAT Trendlines.
“They have to connect with people very quickly and very easily whether they’ve ever worked with them before or will again,” said Kevin Scullin, product manager for load board operator DAT Solutions.
A reduction in truck capacity was a concern for the trucking industry when the electronic logging device mandate soft enforcement period ended April 1, yet capacity has increased 11% on the spot market since then, according to DAT Solutions.
The ratio of loads to trucks on the spot market has been rising steadily for nearly two years, according to Eileen Hart, vice president of marketing and corporate communications for DAT Solutions.
DAT Solutions debuted “DAT OnTime,” a load tracking application for brokers and 3PLs that it called a natural extension to its load board services. It is tailored to intermediaries, who do not have technology on board the trucks themselves.
Mark Montague of DAT Solutions said the statistics on freight rates and loads-to-trucks indicate the April deadline did not cause the same type of spike as the initial Dec. 18 implementation date of the ELD mandate.
With the rise of fast delivery from online retailers, Beaverton-based DAT Solution's software is in demand to connect products to available truck loads.
DAT Solutions LLC, which matches available loads to trucks in the spot market, says shipments on its “load board” rose 27% from February to March while the number of trucks available increased only 14%.
Data from DAT Solutions LLC shows 91 percent of small, independent truckers — the segment that has been the last to meet the guidelines — were compliant either by adopting ELD technology or by being granted temporary exemptions from the governmen