Don't Want to Go Paperless Logs? Try Scanning
Log scanning is a faster, less tedious and more accurate alternative to tracking and inputting drive-time reports manually, said Jay Mitchell, president of Computerized Management of Vehicles.
It improves the accuracy of getting the information into the system, so that you can be confident that it is correct,” Mitchell said. “It also allows you to get the information in the system dramatically quicker, so that you can be up to date and know exactly where any particular driver stands at any given point.”
A pioneer in the log-scanning business, CMV of Sioux Falls, N.D., has developed a system —called the ProLog-Scan — that scans a driver’s paper logs and converts the hours-of-service records into computer form. The company is among at least four in the United States that have developed log scanning systems, said Mitchell, who designed ProLog-Scan.
Like ProLog-Scan, RapidScan uses character recognition technology to ensure the accuracy of the data entered into the system. RapidScan works with Eclipse’s log auditing software — RapidLog — to translate information from the scanned document into a database.
Larry Steinbecker Jr., president of the company, said close to 200 customers use RapidScan, which has the ability to read an hours-of-service grid off most types of logs, including those from competing systems.
Regardless of the log-scanning product used, Mitchell said the approach improves accuracy and eliminates hours of manual work needed to process the information.
Mitchell compares the standardized log form to a credit card application in which separate boxes show the date, driver’s code, mileage as well as tractor and trailer numbers. A grid allows the trucker to map his hours by graphing a line to indicate the time spent off duty, sleeping and driving.
When the driver returns to headquarters, his log is placed on a flatbed scanner and the hours-of-service information is transfer into a computer using the ProLog-Scan software.
“What we do is build a mask that basically looks in particular areas for particular information (on the log),” Mitchell said. “We then pick up the grid and calculate the hours of service based on his line.”
Boyd Heldenbrand, a sales representative with CMV, said the scanners can process 15 to 30 log pages a minute, depending on the quality of the hardware used.
What if a driver’s writing is poor?
Mitchell said the system assumes that there are going to be problems with the logs, whether it be poor writing, torn paper or other variables.
“The way our system works is: It combines the preparation and data entry process in one step,” he said. “First, it lets the scanner put all the information into the computer. We then add a step we call verification, where we go through and have a person take a look and make sure that what the computer did it did correctly.
“Our accuracy is dramatically better than any form of data entry that anybody might be doing,” Mitchell said.
Transport Inc., a bulk hauler in Moorhead, Minn., has used CMV’s log scanning products since 1991. Its vice president, Tom Stordall, said the accuracy and speed of the software are big reasons why.
“Log scanning is our process for ensuring compliance on all of our logs; it’s our audit trail,” Stordall said.
Mitchell boasts that log scanning is also a less expensive and less controversial alternative to using satellite tracking to determine hours-of-service.
“It definitely is dramatically cheaper and, yes, it is the alternative (to satellite logging),” Mitchell said. “A big problem most people are going to run into with satellite is the cost issue.”
While satellite logging requires pricey on-board computers with global tracking systems that can cost hundreds of dollars for each vehicle, a ProLog-Scan system starts at $6,500, which includes the scanner, software, programming and on-site training, Heldenbrand said.
Although log scanning still relies on driver input and can’t produce results as fast as satellite-gathered data, it doesn’t create the same grumblings over privacy compared with satellite logs.
“The other reason drivers aren’t real excited about satellite logging is because, obviously, they don’t want anybody to know exactly what they’re doing at any given moment,” Mitchell said.
Like satellite logging, CMV’s system eliminates the need for paper storage of driver logs. The software not only stores the data electronically, but also archives the image of the log produced by the scanner, he said.
