You might not be aware of the whole Electronic Logging Devices mandate for truckers, where they’re required to have ELDs connected to their vehicle computer that automatically logs their time, and where they can provide data to DOT representatives on request. Vehicles delineated sometime in 2000 and after must have an ELD, but if your vehicle is older and without a computer you can still use paper logging (and why a lot of owner-operators are running old equipment not to mention uptime due to emission systems that are unreliable, and more fun). I’ve been hearing rumblings about this company Highway.com that wants full access to your ELD data with the ability to track you, your fleet… And if you’re not on their system you can’t haul loads for brokers that use them. One trucker was even mentioning having to load apps on his phone so a broker can track him. The reasoning is to protect against fraud, but a broker should know who they’re working with along with relaying that to the shipper for verification. And surprisingly, Highway.com is making money selling the data they collect, which is a technocrat’s dream for technologists to run all of society based on collected data. Consequently, this is a severe invasion of privacy, and a lot of truckers and companies are going along with it. Below was the best write up I found by an ELD company. One other note, several studies have shown anonymized data can easily be deanonymized. Also, private data brokers sell data to the government to get around the government’s legal requirements to get that data, and our government has been confirmed as buying location data on citizens collected from phone applications.
https://www.truckingoffice.com/blog/what-do-you-think-of-highway-com/
By TruckingOffice
Have you heard about Highway.com? This new company says it offers information about carriers, such as their trucking authority, their DOT number, proof of insurance, that sort of thing. Not a bad idea – we’ve all heard about fraudsters in the trucking industry. A single website sign-up? That makes sense.
The highway’s purpose is to assure shippers that their loads are safe and not at risk of theft or being held for ransom. They say they want to help brokers by providing accurate and up-to-date information about trucking companies.
Some of that data includes
- instant visibility into a carrier’s verified fleet
- compares carrier equipment ages to peers
- location insights – find a carrier within a 5-minute walk of a broker
- operation insights – identify carriers with a low inspection-to-truck count
- catch a carrier using another carrier’s equipment.
So how is Highway.com doing it?
Highway.com’s stated purpose is to verify carriers’ identities. Trucking companies and independent owner operators sign up with Highway.com to gain access to certain loads. Some brokers say they won’t work with a trucking company unless it has signed up with Highway.com.
Most truckers don’t see a problem with this. They go online and sign up. The onboarding process looks simple enough.
Until they get to this one point.
They want access to your ELD data. You’re asked to submit your ELD access information, using a special API key. Which will give them access to truck vin and location info all of the time.
Not even the DOT gets your ELD data all the time.
The DOT doesn’t even have access unless they request an inspection file. Then they only get the inspection file. They do not have full unlimited access.
Highway.com requests access to your ELD. That has nothing to do with identity. Once they access the ELD they have full access all the time to all of your truck locations.
Who owns your ELD data?
The US government requires that we have ELDs in our trucks. They have a list of ELDs that meet the requirements. Periodically, they will announce a product that isn’t compliant with the FMCSA standards. This is important.
The government doesn’t ask for your ID and password to access your ELD data.
Here’s the deal: Highway.com wants your truck locations all of the time. Not just to verify identity one time, or for just one load at a time.
Some ELD companies collect this data. Some ELD companies sell this data.
TruckingOffice does not sell your data.
Your email and all other information about your company is safe with us.
Do you have a problem with a company compiling more data than the government does? How do you feel about a private company collecting and likely analyses of your data?
Data mining isn’t limited to Google tracking your cookies anymore. Highway.com’s website says that they don’t sell data. In their Privacy Policy, they say
We may use aggregated (anonymized) information about our End Users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
Just because it doesn’t identify you… does that make it okay? We all know that companies change their policies. What if Highway.com changes theirs?
These are just some things we’re thinking about. What do you think about Highway.com?
Update 10-15-2024
TruckingOffice ELD now provides users the ability to generate an API Key that they can be provide to Highway for those users that are doing business with them. It is located in the profile section in the compay info. After providing Highway with the API Key they will send a requested to the TruckingOffice servers and retrieve a list of all trucks in the ELD account. Then they will send a request for location for each truck. They then monitor this connection by requesting the truck list and locations routinely.