“I am just a dumb truck driver”. One of my favourite clients used to say this to me on most visits to his premises. He would then point to his wife and say, “there is the brains of the operation”. Bob was far more than “a dumb truck driver” though, he and Sue were entrepreneurs, starting with one truck and eventually having a fleet of more than 25 prime movers and trailers. A very long way from being just a dumb truck driver.
On the 6th December this year, The Australian Bureau of Statistics released “The Occupation Standard Classification for Australia” with, amongst other releases, the classification of “skill level 3” for articulated truck drivers and “skill level 4” for general truck drivers.
The skills included are tasks that many of us take for granted such as manoeuvring, reversing, loading, unloading, maintenance, repairs, weight management and complying with relevant safety standards. In particular, for this article, fatigue compliance.
Remaining compliant with the time-based fatigue rules is complex. Fatigue compliance for a solo driver can be up to ten rules, changing every 15 minutes, in a rolling 336-hour period, creating thousands of scenarios for a breach in any 14-day period. Oh, did I mention that every 15 minutes the majority of those calculations change! Maybe, skill grades are looking a little more deserved for professional drivers and some are just selling themselves a little bit short?
On top of that, our driver needs to remain compliant with the administration tasks of driving a fatigue regulated heavy vehicle including when and where they need to take a rest break. Sometimes, they need to become a human map to locate a space that local councils have not banned truck parking.
It’s a tough gig and it is a skilled gig!
Let’s go back to Bob & Sue, Bob’s greatest asset was Sue. They are bright and intuitive people, however, both knew when it was time to ask for help. It did not matter if the issue was finance, people, industry, technology or compliance related, if they did not know the answer, they had a trusted advisor or technology they would turn to as a reference when they needed it.
That is what LogChecker does. LogChecker provides a self-help tool that allows owners, compliance managers, schedulers, staff and drivers to analyse and reference the regulations before mistakes are made. If mistakes are made, LogChecker will identify a breach and supply a Corrective Action Report (CAR) detailing and explaining what went wrong. Managers can step in with plain english solutions and replica work diaries, so everyone involved in the driver’s activity can acknowledge and learn from the experience.
As a month-to-month solution, LogChecker allows flexibility where other technologies may not. For many, assistance with fatigue regulations is one of the crucial parts of thriving in this industry, and Ross Smith at LogChecker has issued a call to action for all operators across the sector to ensure they stay on the right side of the HVNL.
Fatigue compliance information can come from a variety of sources; schedulers, allocators, clients, fellow drivers, or even your nearest roadside expert – but the only true source of accurate information is the fatigue regulations themselves.
LogChecker has been quietly and reliably assisting tens of thousands of drivers over the past 25 years and continues to do so every single day for many hundreds of Australian transport businesses.
For LogChecker, the crux of fatigue regulation and management is education. Smith has been an RFS member for 33 years and has witnessed firsthand the consequences of poor decision making in maintenance, load management and fatigue. Coupled with a lack of training the results can be catastrophic.
Ross has also been training and auditing transport operators and staff in heavy vehicle accreditation and compliance for almost 20 years and is available to provide LogChecker clients with online fatigue compliance support.
Non-compliance to fatigue regulations generally comes from a lack of knowledge. LogChecker takes pride in its clients being proactive in determining their compliance to regulations and congratulates the NHVR for consistently pursuing education over enforcement where appropriate.
Smith believes there has been a noticeable, positive change in attitude towards fatigue compliance from the majority of transport industry professionals over the past two decades. and invites all operators to take the LogChecker challenge. You can head to the LogChecker website and sign up for a seven-day free trial and submit as much driver history, for as many drivers as you wish, obligation free.
You can also test your knowledge of fatigue in the LogChecker Knowledge Base, which contains clear and concise descriptions of each fatigue ruleset including Standard, Standard Two-Up, BFM, BFM Two-Up and WA rules.
LogChecker and their family of products are not just about checking driving hours. Their systems assist in a variety of fleet management outcomes including fleet maintenance software, Prestart apps, asset allocation and school bus management. Its family of products include Gearbox, PreStart, FreightTracker and RollCall.
Compliance with complicated HVNL regulations can be a challenge if you do not arm yourself with the correct tools. LogChecker is suitable for small and large transport operators and can demonstrate reasonably practical steps in managing fatigue compliance and accreditation requirements in an easy, online setting from as little as $6 per driver with no long-term contracts.
For more information on LogChecker or other systems that can streamline your accreditation and compliance activities, please go to LogChecker or the Easy to Use Software website.
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