One20, C.H. Robinson partnership a win for drivers

Access to low-cost ELD, One20 membership benefits touted as reasons

During its existence, One20 has strived to make life easier for truck drivers, help them connect with other drivers and family, and reduce costs. To do that, the company offers a variety of services to its members, including discounts on food and other essentials for life on the road, tips and resources to maintain proper health and wellness, and even low-cost products to assist with navigation.

Founded in 2016 by software expert Christian Schenk, One20 has quickly grown into an expanding platform of services for professional drivers. It’s latest venture, released this summer, is its F-ELD, a low-cost way for drivers to comply with the upcoming electronic logging device (ELD) rule that goes into effect on Dec. 18.

To help get that device into the hands of drivers, One20 has partnered with C.H. Robinson. The terms of the deal allow C.H. Robinson’s more than 71,000 contracted carriers to purchase the device at a discount. The F-ELD comes with no subscription fees and additional benefits through the partnership, says Schenk.

“One20 will publish available ‘premium freight’ to all 360,000-plus members,” he tells FreightWaves. “All members will benefit from the added value and all existing C.H. Robinson carriers will benefit from the One20 membership, simply by downloading the mobile app and signing up.”

C.H. Robinson drivers can purchase the F-ELD to record hours-of-service compliance, but they can also get access to One20’s other benefits through a membership, although one is not required to get the F-ELD.

For more on One20, read about its driver-centric approach to improving life on the road

“While many drivers do choose to use all the tools made available through the One20 membership it is not required,” Schenk says. “The ELD offering, however, does extend the on-route deals and discounts as well as offer seamless access to other One20 platforms such as myOne20.”

One20’s F-ELD retails for $169, but includes no monthly subscription fees for owner-operators. C.H. Robinson carriers using the special code available on the One20 website, will receive a further discount on the original price. The device is available to individual drivers (a fleet version is available for $5 per driver) and requires an Android or Apple device – either phone or tablet – provided by the driver along with Bluetooth and a data plan.  

Under terms of the partnership, One20 members can “elect to share” their availability with C.H. Robinson so “so that freight may be offered to them based on consignee drops and lane preferences,” Schenk says, but it is not required. “That said, the available loads for the network do offer a back-haul index to myOne20 users so that they can see in advance the probability of a backhaul, taking into account the location and date of the prior delivery. Additionally, carriers that are under an active C.H. Robinson load will no longer have to provide check calls, as the One20 system will automatically keep track of progress.”

The partnership is really about providing solutions to drivers and reinforcing the connected driver community.

“The C.H. Robinson partnership, like others, is a testimony to our product and corporate positioning,” Schenk says. “We build products for drivers and all carriers are powered by drivers. We provide the most comprehensive suite of free services the industry has ever seen and our alliance with C.H. Robinson allows us to reach hundreds of thousands of professional men and women with even more legitimacy than the community of more than 360,000 we’ve built inside of a year.”