An ongoing PeopleNet ELD outage was caused by a disconnect between the system’s GPS and server clocks, a problem triggered by the 2020 calendar year, a former Trimble Transportation (NASDAQ: TRMB) executive told FreightWaves.
The two clocks do not sync, putting the devices into a continuous reboot, said the former executive, who contacted FreightWaves via LinkedIn but declined to be identified on the record.
PeopleNet is a Trimble company.
Earlier on Jan. 2 FreightWaves published an article about drivers having problems with PeopleNet electronic logging devices (ELDs).
Users reported a higher-than-usual number of outages, along with sluggish log-in times and other system malfunctions.
“They’ll log in and it [the ELD] just thought and thought and just wants to think the whole time,” Tom Kuehl, owner of Kuehl Transport in Heron Lake, Minnesota, told FreightWaves.
The Trimble executive said he texted that article to several Trimble employees.
“They told me it’s a 2020 issue and the GPS clock and server clock were not syncing,” ultimately killing the device, he said.
In other words, when the calendar transferred to 2020, the servers could no longer recognize the date of the ELDs.
According to the Trimble employees, it is taking 30 minutes for each device to download the fix over the air once the driver disconnects the GPS antenna.
The outages “absolutely could have been avoided,” the executive said, adding: “It should have been discovered in the testing phase.”
UPDATE: Lea Ann McNabb, a Trimble spokesperson, emailed FreightWaves the following statement about the outages:
On New Year’s day, she said, “we began to observe computer software rebooting issues in a subset of our customer base that utilizes the PeopleNet g3 legacy telematics on-board device.”
Once Trimble, identified the root cause, according to McNabb, “we quickly worked to communicate and provide options to these customers to address this issue.”
She said Trimble made a software update available to users on the evening of January 1.
“We are actively working with impacted customers to implement the update and restore the connection to the devices in a timely and complete manner,” McNabb said. “Impacted drivers have switched to using paper logs as an alternative to track hours of service until their g3 on-board device has been updated.”
This is a developing story. Check FreightWaves.com for updates.
Kristy Snodgrass
If you need anything on help you are more than welcome to reach out to me. I am a one person safety department with 50 plus trucks. I can help guide you as much as I can with the issues I have been dealing with. Its been non stop every day for 9 weeks with issues with the ELD migration. Reach out to me if needed. People net’s program is a mess and who would have thought a company that has been a around this long would roll out something that doesn’t work to its fullest. I was ensured my the Customer support manager that the system worked find that there were no issues. The sales person and the customer support manager never get back to you on resolving anything when you ask for help. Nor do they return your calls.
Kristy Snodgrass
If you need anything on help you are more than welcome to reach out to me. I am a one person safety department with 50 plus trucks. I can help guide you as much as I can with the issues I have been dealing with. Its been non stop every day for 9 weeks with issues with the ELD migration. Reach out to me if needed. People net’s program is a mess and who would have thought a company that has been a around this long would roll out something that doesn’t work to its fullest. I was ensured my the Customer support manager that the system worked find that there were no issues. The sales person and the customer support manager never get back to you on resolving anything when you ask for help. Nor so they return your calls.
Micah B
If anyone is looking for another solution or needs help with a buyout and your located in the NE, feel free to contact me. Micah with Samsara – 267-297-1899
Cindy
We have Peoplenet!! Absolutely the most clunky, backwards programming ever. I have received those messages long before the end of the year. I even sent Peoplenet an email outlining the problems. The IT people add too many steps to change status. It lags and takes forever and when at busy shippers this becomes a safety issue. I have had Qualcomm. Smooth as silk, doesn’t bog you down with stupid questions. I have yet to find the off duty key. I have to log out or go in the sleeper birth. Personal use, is just that, personal. No other info is required. Do you really need to know that I woke up and need to pre or take a dump but the only place I could park was on some side street. And that I am driving down to the truck stop to go to the bathroom and maybe score a spot. So personal should be personal and work is work. Not that difficult. I know the difference. It doesn’t always accept when I put in New bol numbers. To go back and edit my logs is very difficult. People Net is one of the least functional of all programs. Verizon’s is not much better. Qualcomm is by far the leader in performance and ease of use.
But if Peoplenet says this is a new issue due to the New Year, they are flat out lying. I have a copy of the email I sent and pictures of the home screen malfunctioning going back to October and November. Every time they update, things just get worse. And the fact that the developers did not anticipate the New Year just proves how inept they really are. Their sequences are out of order and not compatible with the users needs. They should not require duplicated information from the drivers, nor should they ask for anything more than what is absolute. No, Peoplenet is the bottom of the barrel and if you have a choice, avoid them.
John
Peoplenet has had software issues for years, no one have ever asked a truck driver about e logs because it is very UN USER friendly
Phillip Troudt
Get an eld they said, its the law they said, they’re easier and MORE reliable they said….I guess “they” have never had their livelyhood depend on them…I said.
Maybe FMCSA and ELD manufacturers should be required to set their lives to conditions of an ELD and seee how greatly the effect on their lives would be limited in daily activities…its easy to mandate what you dont have to live by.
Peoplenet only gets coverage due to their size but us small owner operators have to deal with the same issue’s without national coverage. These glitches affect more than large corporations.
Bill tran
ELD rule is way take money from trucker because the man who make this rule thinking truck driver are machine , not human being .. let them know we are human being
Tina Barnett
The Trucker Path ELD, is not working and they are not returning phone calls, they were just bought but a Chinese company, I think they went out of business, I want my money back!!!!
Phil prostovich
Peoplenet has caused me grief since the Dec 17 ELD switch over, to be honest it has never been very dependable or user friendly im almost relieved to use paper logs because they don’t take 30 minutes to log on or 10 minutes to reciev receive logs