Tackling fatigue management – Teletrac Navman acquires Transtech Driven

Guest blog by Andrew Rossington, Vice-President of Transtech Driven 

Teletrac Navman and Transtech Driven, an Australian-based business that provides compliance solutions for the transport and logistics industry, have worked together since 2012 to address safety risks triggered by driver fatigue.

Fatigue management laws in Australia are highly complex, and the responsibility not just on drivers but everyone in the transport chain has increased. Law reform has made all parties in the supply chain legally responsible for preventing driver fatigue. Working long hours and fighting your body clock at night is widely recognised as high risk.

The paper work diaries in Australia are notoriously hard to fill in, and it’s difficult to then work out how many hours an individual driver has left before they take a break, as this depends on what driving they’ve just done. For example, the time you started work yesterday impacts on the time you can start work today and the time you can start work in 7 or even 14 days. At any given time drivers are required to manage their work and rest hours over dozens of overlapping time windows, including special restrictions when working after midnight.

So the question is, how to better manage fatigue and meet the increased responsibilities?

Sentinel fatigue management – What is it? How does it work?

Sentinel is a fatigue management system developed by Transtech Driven which is targeted at industries utilising fatigue regulated heavy vehicles. With Sentinel, drivers simply login – in the cab of their truck (via the touch screen) or on a computer at the depot – then log the commencement or completion of work and rest breaks as they occur. Sentinel works out the rest – in real time – immediately informing the driver of vital fatigue information along with a view of the rest of their work day. The added advantage is that the driver can then fill out the paper work diary much more quickly and accurately.
Sentinel is a precursor to an Electronic Work Diary (EWD). In Australia the transition to EWDs is federally approved and is taking place nationally. Currently, Sentinel is compliant to draft EWD specifications, but the final specification has not yet been released by Transport Certification Australia who will be implementing the program on behalf of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Australia’s regulator for heavy vehicles.

How does it help drivers?

Sentinel vastly reduces the drivers work load. Drivers simply log in, commence work and add any rest breaks as they occur. Sentinel constantly calculates their fatigue status and adherence to their fatigue rules and advises the driver accordingly. The system will also tell the driver how much more driving he can do, for example, you can drive for 4 hours then you’ll need to take another 15 minute break.

How does it help businesses?

A comprehensive fatigue management solution is hugely helpful to the allocators as they can see any drivers fatigue status, and how much more driving they can do before they have to take a break – either small or extended. This allows the allocators to easily match up the work required with a driver who has enough driving hours left to carry it out and is especially helpful for planning long-haul trips. Sentinel can also be integrated into many Freight Management Systems to provide a concise view of a driver’s available hours.
As Sentinel allows managers to see all the drivers in the fleet in real time, this enables them to monitor if any drivers are in breach of their hours, and to take action immediately. In fact, Sentinel will warn drivers of the need for rest and also immediately advises back-office and allocators if a fatigue condition is violated.

What does this mean for New Zealand?

While New Zealand has different work hours rules on long haul driving from those in Australia, Teletrac Navman plans to extend Transtech Driven’s solutions to customers in New Zealand once the business integration is complete. This will mean that New Zealand customers of Teletrac Navman could benefit from solutions like Sentinel to better manage and monitor driver fatigue.

As workplace health and safety becomes increasingly regulated across the freight and transport industries, monitoring driver hours and behaviour is critical in maintaining on-road duty of care for businesses. The combination of Teletrac Navman GPS fleet management with Transtech Driven’s experience in compliance gives customers another tool to better manage safety.