In road transport, there’s no shortage of strong opinions about Electronic Work Diaries (EWDs). For years, plenty of operators and drivers have viewed them with suspicion, questioning whether digital systems could ever be as flexible or practical as the paper logbooks they’ve used for decades.
Blake Milford, managing director of Paramount Freightlines, was one of them.
“If you had asked me a couple of months ago about using EWDs, I’d have told you exactly what I thought. In fact, there’s many comments by me on here slamming the concept,” he said.
But sometimes, the right conversation at the right time can shift your perspective. For Blake, that moment came during a lunch break while travelling interstate in early 2025.
“By chance, having lunch whilst I was on some interstate travel last February, the discussion around EWDs came up, and the rest is history,” he said.
When he arrived home, he got in touch with Hubfleet to see what all the fuss was about. After setting up a demo and learning more about the platform, Blake decided to put it to his team.
“I sent a company-wide text to the drivers and, to my surprise, many who had the same thoughts as me jumped at it.”
What followed was a rapid and largely seamless rollout. Blake had expected resistance, after all, most of the drivers were just as wary of EWDs as he had been. But the reality turned out quite differently.
“After the first few days the feedback was all positive. The drivers loved it,” he said.
“They loved the clear and transparent info around all their hours, and the fact they could see well in advance when all their necessary breaks were due.”
The ability to clearly see fatigue hours, rest requirements and daily limits gave drivers the confidence they needed to stay compliant and stay in control of their schedules.
“Alas, weeks later (with only some minor kickback, and then an apology), we have the whole company on it.”
Even those who had doubts came around quickly. What was expected to be a tough change became one of the easiest transitions the company had made.
The benefits weren’t just felt in the cab. Blake’s brother Heath, who looks after much of the compliance workload, saw immediate improvements in efficiency and oversight.
“This has saved Heath hours per week in manually checking logbook pages, and filing time, to now seeing live data on all our drivers daily,” Blake said.
The shift from paper to digital didn’t just eliminate manual logbook checking, it provided live visibility over compliance activity across the entire business. Real-time access to driver records, rest history and operational compliance made it easier to catch issues early and act on them quickly.
And the value extended beyond fatigue management.
“This, coupled with having all our pre-trips, fit for duty, fault reporting and our maintenance all in one system, is an absolute godsend,” Blake said.
By using Hubfleet not just for EWDs but for pre-starts, fault reporting and maintenance tracking, Paramount created a fully integrated safety system, one that reduces admin, supports drivers and keeps the business audit-ready without the usual paper trail.
For many operators, the biggest fear around EWDs is the effort it takes to implement them, driver training, new processes, resistance to change.
But that wasn’t Blake’s experience.
“It just works. There’s no big learning curve, no special training, just an app that drivers can open and use. It’s been one of the smoothest transitions we’ve made.”
Consistency has been another key win. With every new driver onboarded straight into the system, there’s no more variation in how compliance is handled. Everyone’s on the same page from day one, which reduces confusion and improves the overall safety culture within the business.
“So here we are, compliant, and with the times—and now any new driver who starts is instantly on the EWD with no fuss.”
Digital compliance is no longer just about avoiding fines. With increasing scrutiny under Chain of Responsibility laws and customer demands for higher standards, having clean digital records and robust safety processes is becoming a business advantage.
“We’re compliant. We’re consistent. And when someone needs to check anything, it’s there,” Blake said.
“That gives us confidence, and I think it gives our customers confidence too.”
Being able to demonstrate compliance isn’t a burden, it’s part of building trust with customers, regulators, and your team. And it’s a lot easier when your tools help you do that job properly.
For those still sitting on the fence, unsure whether it’s worth making the switch, Blake’s message is simple:
“My advice? Just do the demo. Have the chat. We were one of the last ones you’d expect to go digital—and now I wouldn’t go back,” he said.
Because when a system is practical, easy to use, and built with drivers and operators in mind, it stops being a regulatory obligation—and starts becoming part of the way you do business.
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