Transport Certification Australia (TCA) is looking to boost the acceptance of IT in trucking while helping broaden the appeal of Intelligent Access Program (IAP) providers, according to TCA CEO Chris Koniditsiotis.
With the government enterprise having recently launched a new strategic vision and being half way through an electronic work diary (EWD) operational pilot trial for the NSW Government, Koniditsiotis is keen to accentuate the positive aspects of such technological advances.
By Rob McKay | February 14, 2012
Transport Certification Australia (TCA) is looking to boost the acceptance of IT in trucking while helping broaden the appeal of Intelligent Access Program (IAP) providers, according to TCA CEO Chris Koniditsiotis.
With the government enterprise having recently launched a new strategic vision and being half way through an electronic work diary (EWD) operational pilot trial for the NSW Government, Koniditsiotis is keen to accentuate the positive aspects of such technological advances.
“We have the opportunity here to not just replace the written diary but to actually do something that actually drive safety, which is the ultimate aim,” he says.
“The written work diary is retrospective, it tells you what has been done, whereas this technology can tell you what you can do.
“If you’re an operator and you might have 20 trucks and 30 drivers, you can now work out how to best optimise those drivers over the next two weeks . . . and say how is the best way to use them so that it fits in with safety and minor regulations as well.”
While not in a position to go into detail of the trial NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay announced on July 25, he insists the experience so far is positive.
“It works,” he says, insisting the feedback from drivers had been good given that the technology was now more user-friendly to them.
Koniditsiotis would like to position TCA as a service to help industry players boost their efficiency.
“What I’m looking for is industry contacting us, pose the questions to us,” he says. “We’re independent of any commercial supplier. We’ll give them three or four lists of people they can see. Because it is a fast-moving space as well.”
He would like the industry to lose the scepticism and distrust of IT in some of the smaller and more conservative quarters.
“There is a fallacy out there that somehow this is the big boys’ gear,” he says.
“That fact is, I accept, if you’ve only got one truck, you’re the expert. No one can do anything without you knowing about it. But if you’ve got two or more, it’s the old saying: ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’.”
Interestingly, in the face of industry criticism of local government with regard to the IAP, Koniditsiotis would like to see the sector cut some slack.
He praised councillors in Dubbo for opening up some of the town’s roads and urged the industry to approach other councils in a more structured way and with a recognition of the realities for elected council members.
“I think we’ve got a lot to learn about how we build up a case that covers off not just the economic aspects but the social aspects,” he says, adding that adherence to the triple bottom line – people, planet, profit – is the better approach.
For the future, Koniditsiotis would like to see IAP providers to form strategic alliances with non-IAP service providers to help make them more attractive to customers.
The full interview with Chris Koniditsiotis can be read in the Transport Technology Directory in the next edition of ATN.