Bringing drivers along for the ride will mean a smoother trip
About one-third of trucking fleets use telematics today and that number is growing quickly. With the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator in the midst of developing a compliance policy for electronic work diaries (EWDs), and commencing EWD assessments and approvals this year, the volume of telematics-enabled fleets is likely to increase further still.
EWDs help monitor work and rest times of a driver and will be a voluntary alternative to the paper-based work diary.
As more fleets adopt telematics the requirement to develop telematics policies grows. These types of policies help establish clear and defined expectations for any employee that is subject to the use of these devices and supporting systems and create a company-wide culture of road safety.
Drivers should be asked to review, sign and date a telematics policy when they begin employment. If you are upgrading your telematics system in anticipation of a move to EWDs, there is a great opportunity to put a new telematics policy in place for existing drivers.
If you already have telematics in place but no policy, you should prepare one, and set a deadline by which all drivers are required to review and sign it before they are allowed to drive a company vehicle.
Outline of a telematics policy
MiX Telematics has prepared telematics policies for many fleets around the world. Here are the essential elements for an Australian fleet:
Purpose: Explain the reason your company is implementing telematics. Often, it’s for compliance purposes, such as recording drivers’ hours. Other objectives might be to improve safety and efficiency of the fleet. Explain why telematics are important and how they will benefit not just the company, but also drivers.
Roles & responsibilities: For senior management, line management and employees. For instance:
• Senior leadership: Establish clear expectations and accountability to help ensure that all employees understand and adhere to the requirements of this policy.
• Line management/supervisors: Review this policy with all applicable employees to ensure that they understand the expectations and potential consequences if violations were to occur.
• Employees: Understand and adhere to the expectations as outlined in this policy.
EWD migration and driver hours: If you plan to move your fleet to EWDs, explain its use to your fleet – its purpose and key provisions. Many fleets also include the driver hour provisions here as well.
Who must comply: Describe who must comply with the policy – this should include employee drivers, contracted drivers and temporary drivers – and the types of vehicles that must comply (both inter- and intra-state).
System access: Defines key fob types, who receives them, the charge for lost key fobs and system administrators. It should also prohibit any sharing of key fobs or admin logins.
System use: How drivers log in and out of the system and what information is recorded while the system is in use. Fleets using in-cab video would include details on what is recorded and how the data is used in this section. (Many fleets implementing in-cab video are including longer sections in their telematics policy, to allay concerns about the recording and use of in-cab video – for instance, explaining that managers are not monitoring live video from inside vehicles, but rather reviewing recorded video only when a driving event is triggered.)
Log edits: Defines the process by which logs can be edited (overriding automatic collection and recording of data). Ultimately, drivers own their logs and must approve any edits made by supervisors.
Compliance: We recommend explaining why compliance is important and why the company decided to implement telematics. This section should also include a list of items drivers need in their vehicle relative to compliance (such as blank paper logs in the event of a system failure) and procedures to follow for roadside inspections.
System administration: Defines who the admins are (by role, not name).
Driver performance: Explains how driver performance data will be used. Typically, fleets explain that it is primarily used to counsel drivers on safe driving behaviors and techniques.
The objective of a telematics policy is to make sure drivers understand why the fleet is implementing the system, how the system works and why they must use it. Ideally, this is a later step in a much longer communications process with drivers.
The first time they hear about your fleet’s new telematics system should not be when they are handed the policy for review and signature.
Driver buy-in is key to the success of any telematics initiative. Make your telematics policy an opportunity to convey to drivers that the fleet’s top priority is to keep them safe.
Brodie von Berg is managing director Middle East and Australasia of MiX Telematics