BigRoad welcomes FMCSA guidance on mobile app logs

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) newly revised guidance concerning drivers’ records of duty status (RODS) generated by logging software programs on laptop computers, tablets and smartphones confirms that BigRoad’s electronic logs are an officially recognized option for RODS compliance, the company said.

“This is a huge victory for drivers who boldly took the road with our innovative smartphone technology for electronic logs and risked citations because of ambiguous regulations,” said Terry Frey, co-founder and COO of BigRoad. “We salute all those early pioneers.”

Frey said that BigRoad had worked with FMCSA and officers and executives of various state transportation departments for nearly a year to discuss and resolve driver complaints surrounding the interpretation of the regulation.

“Together we have paved a road towards better compliance and as we all know, compliant drivers make for safer roads,” Frey said.

BigRoad has been endorsed as a RODS compliance option by the National Assn. of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC).

“The FMCSA’s guidance recognizes the legitimate interest of the small fleets and owner-operators who represent our membership,” says David Owen, NASTC’s president. “This guidance will allow all of us to move off paper logs and adopt new low-cost technology producing error-free electronic ‘paperwork.’”

 Owen also noted that the guidance makes verification easier for roadside enforcement officials who are now permitted to accept the electronic logs as presented on a tablet or smartphone.

BigRoad said that more than 160,000 drivers have downloaded BigRoad on Google Play and Apple App Stores and that nearly 1,000 fleets are actively using it. The app is free for drivers, and the company’s web-based solution for fleets is available for $15 per user/month.