On the road: fighting truck-driver fatigue with technology

During the 12 months to the end of June 2013, 231 people died from 192 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks or buses. Already this year, two people were killed and five injured when a fuel tanker crashed in Sydney’s northern suburbs and burst into flame.

From safety faults with vehicles to driver fatigue, the reasons for these crashes are varied. But according to the head of Trimble’s Transport and Logistics division, Tom Debeule, the unfortunate reality of these accidents is that some could have been avoided by using the right technology.

In February, the new Heavy Vehicle National Law (covering Qld, NSW, Tas, Vic, SA and ACT) was introduced for all heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes to operate under one rule book to ensure a consistent safety regime for heavy vehicles on our roads. The law includes instituting new work diary arrangements for managing fatigue.

Telematic devices (or onboard computers that are managed in the back office) enable transport companies to have a better view and a more real-time view of what is actually happening on the roads, not only from an operations point of view but also from a driver alertness and fatigue management point of view.

Debeule says in Europe about 10 years ago there was a big shift in awareness about driver fatigue, mainly from a safety perspective. Many have now moved away from paper log books to tachographs, and there are a number of ideas being discussed in Australia regarding recording of fatigue management hours electronically.

 “How we solve some of the issues associated with fatigue management is by providing drivers and the back office with data that is recorded in the truck by the driver or by the truck,” says Debeule. “This gives the driver views on fatigue hours and driver safety. We provide the driver with what we call a fatigue management screen, which includes all the rules put forward by the National Heavy Vehicle regulator including standard hours, the basic fatigue management scheme and the advanced fatigue management scheme.

“If we just look at the two standard schemes, our screens basically give the driver the view of how many hours they have left to work on the current scheme they are working in. When they have to rest, they are warned with audiovisual messages on the screen and also by the speaker installed in the truck. This lets the driver know they are getting close to their mandatory rest time. It creates awareness for the driver but also provides information for the back office, which is also a very important part as it lets them know what the driver is still capable of within the limitation of the law.

Debeule says the information recorded in the system is extremely useful as it can be used to create a certain benchmark for say a typical Sydney-Melbourne trip. He says: “Fatigue is very personal, every person has a different fatigue level and it all depends on the health and wellbeing of the driver - how well they eat and exercise, etc. The telematics system can help detail what is possible for a certain driver profile and fatigue scheme and what are realistic expectations, not only for the transport company but also the customer of the transport company in order to have a profitable transport from A to B within the safety and the limits of the law.”

Another part of the system is the actual driver safety, warning the driver based on posted speed limits. If a driver breaches any of the alerts, clear warning messages can be sent to the driver on their pay slip and there will be a cost involved.

According to Debeule, there has been a lot of talk about introducing electronic work diaries but it is just a proposal at this stage. He says electronic work diaries can create a better awareness for both the truck driver and the transport company because both will know this information can be monitored by government, which will create a more direct approach on breaching and could create a safer environment on the road.

The Trimble Car Cube onboard computer is designed to save drivers from time-consuming paperwork and helps them meet road and fatigue management rules and regulations. It also features a navigation system specifically for trucks, which guides the driver to their destination safely and efficiently. It takes into account any restrictions applying to trucks and calculates a route that avoids roads that are unsuitable in terms of permissible weight, axle load, headroom and vehicle width - resulting in fuel savings and reduced repair and maintenance costs.

For further information about Trimble’s fatigue management solution, Trimble Transport and Logistics will be attending the International Truck, Trailer and Equipment Show (stand number: AH229)