Glossary

Telematics is the branch of information technology that deals with the long-distance transmission of computerized information. The term was coined from "telos" meaning long distance and "informatics" - itself a combination of information and automatic/automated.

Today’s Global Positioning System (GPS), utilizes one or many satellite systems to track the precise location of personnel, vehicles, watercrafts, assets, etc.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is the name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel and is a federal agency.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the United States. The primary mission of the FMCSA is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.

CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability. It is the safety compliance and enforcement program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that holds motor carriers and drivers accountable for their role in safety. It employs a Safety Measurement System (SMS) containing 7 categories to determine driver risk and intervene as necessary.

Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance refers to several areas of requirements including: Drug testing, Vehicle inspection, Maintenance programs, Hours of service and several more. Violation of any one of these can lead to serious consequences and are regularly monitored to ensure compliance.

A Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) needs to be completed daily by drivers for any commercial vehicle they operate, as specified by Federal Law 49 CFR 396.11 and 396.13 and enforced by the DOT.

Hours of service (HOS) is a term referring to the number of hours that a commercial motor vehicle driver is allowed work per day, or week, or other period as mandated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

An electronic logging device is a device, typically a tablet, carried in the truck cab. It records data including the operation of the vehicle, driver activity, hours of service (HOS), Record of Duty (ROD) for each 24-hour period.

Automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs) were introduced by FMCSA back in 2014 to reduce hours of service violations and attempts to reduce crashes by fatigued drivers.

Record of Duty (ROD) is a log containing the drivers name, date, and status throughout a 24-hour period.

The ELD mandate, or ELD Final Rule, is a U.S. federal government regulation specifying that operators of commercial motor vehicles covered by this law will be required to use electronic logging devices. This will eliminate AOBRDS (Automatic on Board Recording Devices) and paper logs fully by 12/16/2019.

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) is an arrangement among U.S. states and Canada. It works as a "pay now or pay later" system. As commercial motor vehicles buy fuel, any fuel taxes paid are credited to that licensee's account. At the end of the fiscal quarter, the licensee completes their fuel tax report listing all miles traveled in all participating jurisdictions and lists all gallons purchased. Then the average MPG is applied to the miles traveled to determine the tax liability to each jurisdiction.

Geofencing is utilized in GPS tracking applications. It allows a predefined virtual perimeter to be set up like real-world geographic fences. It has a wide range of uses and applications and can include: a house, job site, office, service area, states. etc. It enables software to trigger a response when the GPS tracker enters or leave the virtual fence.