Electronic Driver Fatigue Management

1
Electronic Driver Fatigue Management
Logistics Association of Australia

• Presented by
• Shaun Owen
• Managing Director, Transtech Consulting

2
Fatigue A Significant Issue

• Fatigue is an important health and safety issue
  for heavy vehicle drivers
• Much more time on road than other drivers
• Most drivers experience symptoms of fatigue
• A significant minority of drivers use stimulant
  drugs to counter fatigue
• (National Road Transport Commission, 2001)

3
Fatigue Costs

• Heavy vehicle driver fatigue is a factor in
• 15 of fatal crashes involving heavy vehicles
• 10 of all serious crashes and
• 7 of less severe crashes. (VicRoads)
• The annual cost of heavy vehicle fatigue related
  crashes has been estimated at 250 million
  (VicRoads)

4
In the Past

• Each State and Territory had traditionally made
  its own road laws
• Differences between jurisdictions at that time
  included
• standards for heavy vehicles and their weights
  and dimensions,
• permitted hours of driving
• work and vehicle charges.

• Differences became an impediment to movement
  between jurisdictions for heavy vehicle freight
  transport.

5
Now

• The national driving hours regulations, Road
  Transport Reform (Driving Hours) Regulations
  1999, were developed to achieve consistency in
  prescriptive regulations
• apply to trucks with a GVM over 12 tonnes and
  buses that seat over 12 (8 adult seats in NSW).
• implemented in New South Wales, Victoria,
  Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania
• Western Australia and the Northern Territory have
  implemented a Fatigue Management Code of Practice
  based on occupational health and safety
  legislation

6
Current Regulatory Framework

• The regulatory framework has 3 components
• A regulated driving hours (standard hours) regime
• Transitional Fatigue Management Scheme (TFMS)
• Provision for a Fatigue Management Scheme (FMS)

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Current Rules (Standard Hours)

• The prescriptive regulations under this regime
  include

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National Logbook

• The National Log Book was introduced in Victoria
  on 1st September 1998.
• Who is required to maintain a logbook?
• All drivers of trucks with a GVM over 12 tonnes
  and buses that seat over 12 (8 adult seats in
  NSW) who operate beyond 100 km from base.
• (except in Queensland where a 200 km threshold
• applies, and Tasmania where logbooks are not
• required)

9
Record Keeping

• For each journey made OUTSIDE a drivers local
  area
• drivers are required to record the following
  details in
• their own National Driver Log Book, for each
  driving
• day
• Their name, current driver license number and the
  State or Territory where the license was issued
• The day of the week and date
• The registration number of each heavy truck or
  commercial bus being driven on the day.
• Immediately before or after each change of
  activity, the
• driver must record
• The change of activity
• The driving time, other work time or rest times
  spent anywhere by the driver since the last
  change of activity
• The time and place of change of activity
• If the driver becomes a two- up driver- name and
  current driver license number of the other driver

10
Record Keeping

• For each journey made by a driver wholly WITHIN
• the drivers Local Area, the employer of the
• driver is required to make a record of
• the drivers name
• the date of each drivers driving day
• the times the driver started and finished driving
  on each driving day
• the total of the drivers driving, work and rest
  times on each driving day and
• the total of the drivers driving, work and rest
  times for the driving days in each week.

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Transitional Fatigue Management Scheme

• Gives drivers and operators more flexibility with
  driving, work and rest hours in exchange for a
  commitment to managing driver fatigue
• Drivers can drive up to 14 hours in any 24-hour
  period and spread their driving over a longer
  14-day cycle.
• Compared to the Standard Scheme where driving is
  limited to 12 hours ( two hours of work) in any
  24-hour period over a shorter seven day cycle.

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Transitional Fatigue Management Scheme

• Employer obligations
• Keep records for each driver.
• Maintain systems such as rosters, to ensure
  drivers comply with driving, work and rest
  requirements.
• Record the certification of drivers/relevant
  employees who have completed the approved
  training course in fatigue management.
• Ensure drivers have had medical examinations.
• Conduct regular reviews of each drivers
  performance in the Scheme.

13
Fatigue Management Program

• The laws provide an exemption for companies to
  participate in the Fatigue Management Scheme
• Being piloted by Queensland Transport and the
  Road Transport Forum (implemented 1994)
• Proposes that operators who receive FMP
  accreditation can operate outside the
  prescriptive hours regulatory regime.
• The FMP standards relate to all factors that
  impact fatigue,
• Eg. scheduling, rostering, driver health,
  workplace conditions, fitness for duty, time off
  and management systems
• The operator must develop and implement
  management systems and procedures that will allow
  them to meet the standards.

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Chain Of Responsibility

Chain of Responsibility laws recognise
that breaches of road transport law are not
always the sole responsibility of drivers and
that other parties may have measures of
responsibility. Under Chain of Responsibility
Laws . . . Any party who has control in a
transport operation can be held responsible and
may be made legally liable.
CONTROL
RESPONSIBILITY
LEGAL LIABILITY
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Chain Of Responsibility

• Prohibits consignors, employers, responsible
  employees and persons from making requests or
  setting rosters or schedules that would require a
  driver to commit hours or speeding offences

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Chain Of Responsibility

• When?

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Chain Of Responsibility

• When?
• NSW and VIC - 30 September 2005. Thats this
  Friday!
• Other states coming soon

18

Chain Of Responsibility

• All parties are required to prove that they are
  taking all reasonable steps to comply

19

Manual log books

• What is their purpose?
• They are a roadside enforcement tool
• Should they be relied upon for management
  records?

20

Work diaries ?

• Dropped from proposed FMS
• Extra information on logbooks
• Time zone of start of trip
• Odometer reading at change of activity

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Electronic Driver Fatigue Management

• Ensuring safety, and at the same time,
• compliance with rules.
• Electronic log books
• Monitoring of steering wheel movements
• Retina technology

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Electronic log books

• What is required to get electronic log
• books?
• Need to know
• When a driver is driving, and what vehicle
• When he is working
• When he is resting
• Where does the change of activity take place?
• Odometer reading at activity change

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Electronic log books

• Driver Specific Monitoring Device
• (DSMD)
• We need some way to associate a driver with a
  vehicle at any point in time
• This can be easy in some cases, and very
  difficult in others
• We also need to be able to capture rest activities

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Electronic log books

• How can we tell if a driver is
• driving or working?
• Vehicle is moving
• Vehicle is at load or unload point
• Need to know about the schedule, and load and
  unload times
• There will always be cases of uncertainty

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Dangerous goods example

• We know when vehicle is loading or unloading
• We know which driver is driving
• We have the schedule available
• We make the driver enter start and end rest break
  on the PDA
• We do not permit other activities on the PDA
  during rest breaks

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Actions

• Send SMS or email to scheduler and managers upon
  breach
• This happens in real time
• Can sound alarm in vehicle to warn driver that he
  is in breach

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What we found

• Drivers universally breach rules
• Think it is unfair that they are being targeted
  when other companies are not doing this
• Drivers believe that rest breaks arent required
  on metro work
• Many drivers tack the rest breaks onto the end
  of their shift

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Enhancements

• Feedback from drivers they still need to keep
  track of the hours themselves
• Have a count down timer on PDA to show how long
  before a rest break must be taken

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Thankyou
Thankyou

• Questions?
• For more information please contact
• Transtech Consulting Services
• Info_at_transtech.net.au

• Comments?