Roy Horton, director, product strategy, for Mack Trucks, shares news of the truck manufacturer now offering Geotab Drive, an integrated ELD product.

Volvo, Mack Trucks to offer integrated ELD option through Geotab

Oct. 9, 2019

The cloud-based ELD option will be accessible through a smartphone application, with no additional hardware needed.

Original equipment truck manufacturers Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks both announced they will offer customers an integrated electronic logging device (ELD) option.

Through a partnership with telematics and vehicle tracking provider Geotab, the telematics device will be factory-installed in every truck. The ELD option will allow fleets and drivers the ability to track hours of service (HOS) driver compliance data through a smartphone application.

Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks shared this news during the companies’ respective press conferences during the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition (MC&E) in San Diego this week.

“There’s no additional hardware needed,” said Johan Agebrand, director, product marketing for Volvo Trucks North America. “It’s a ‘bring your own device’ system that fully makes this available for the drivers and the fleets.”

Geotab Drive for Volvo Trucks and Geotab for Mack Trucks both use a cloud-based system that captures engine and GPS data from the truck to create automatic duty status logs. The system then sends it to the cloud so there is no loss of data. The information is then sent from the cloud to the Geotab Drive application on any selected Android or iOS device.

Utilizing cloud-based technology, Geotab Drive does not require the use of Wi-Fi, bluetooth, or an ethernet connection. Even without an online connection, the Geotab Drive device will continue recording data.

Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks plan to make this option available for order in the fourth quarter of 2019.

About the Author

Erica Schueller | Media Relations Manager | Navistar

Erica Schueller is the Media Relations Manager for Navistar.

Before joining Navistar, Schueller served as Editorial Director of the Endeavor Commercial Vehicle Group. The commercial vehicle group includes the following brands: American Trucker, Bulk Transporter, Fleet Maintenance, FleetOwner, Refrigerated Transporter, and Trailer/Body Builders brands.

An award-winning journalist, Schueller has reported and written about the vehicle maintenance and repair industry her entire career. She has received accolades for her reporting and editing in the commercial and automotive vehicle fields by the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA), the International Automotive Media Competition (IAMC), the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Azbee Awards.

Schueller has received recognition among her publishing industry peers as a recipient of the 2014 Folio Top Women in Media Rising Stars award, acknowledging her accomplishments of digital content management and assistance with improving the print and digital products in the Vehicle Repair Group. She was also named one Women in Trucking’s 2018 Top Women in Transportation to Watch.

She is an active member of a number of industry groups, including the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), the Auto Care Association's Young Auto Care Networking Group, GenNext, and Women in Trucking.

In December 2018, Schueller graduated at the top of her class from the Waukesha County Technical College's 10-week professional truck driving program, earning her Class A commercial driver's license (CDL).

She has worked in the vehicle repair and maintenance industry since 2008.