SmartTrack – Driver Fatigue Management

How SmartTrack helps the Australian Transport Industry meet "duty of care" compliance, safety and driver training obligations.

Imarda has built some very simple but effective, new functionality into SmartTrack that now allows you to manage driver hours of operation in line with Australian Fatigue Management legislation. Some of our largest customer fleets are using SmartTrack to meet their OH&S related driver fatigue management requirements. Imarda has been able to create unique flexibility in SmartTrack to address many of the various State legislative requirements. This makes it simple for an Operations Manager to report on compliance and be alerted to past and upcoming non-compliance issues.

The information and reports that SmartTrack now provides helps employers and employees show they are taking all reasonable and practicable steps to manage driver fatigue.

Enabling drivers to electronically record the hours they have driven is as simple as the driver logging in to a mobile terminal in the cab, SmartTrack then applies the appropriate Fatigue Management rules for that driver. Operations Managers can access up to date information on both non-compliance and compliance as defined by the Fatigue Management rules set for a specific driver. Reports can then be extracted from SmartTrack for historical records and proof of compliance at a later time.

How SmartTrack Captures Driver Hours

Imarda has used the following definitions in SmartTrack to track work periods and breaks.

Work Period (WP)	Length of Time that either one major break or two minor breaks must be taken
Major Break (MaB)	Minimum break time required in the defined work period
Minor Break (MiB)	Two minor breaks combined meet the minimum break time required. (Note that the minor break doesn't have to be half the major break)
Fatigue Timer (FT)	The count down timer showing how long until your required breaks need to be completed

 

The Mobile Data Terminal

To capture a driver’s operating hours each vehicle is installed with a Mobile Data Terminal (MDT). The SmartTrack Driver ID feature is enabled allowing each driver to be uniquely identified for reporting purposes.

Note: SmartTrack has been designed to help you comply with the various State legislation relating to Fatigue Management and OH&S. Imarda makes no claim that by using SmartTrack alone you will comply with all the requirements of this legislation.

Sleep deprived drivers are dangerous to themselves, colleagues and other road users. Productivity decreases with sleep deprived drivers and the risk of costly mistakes will only increase.

So how does it work for a driver?

The moment a driver logs into SmartTrack’s Fatigue Timer (FT) the Mobile Data Terminal starts counting down from the Work Period (WP) to zero.

The driver is given a warning message (accompanied with an audible beep ) when the driver is due for an upcoming break.

When the Fatigue Timer expires and the driver has not satisfied the required break criteria, an alert is sent to SmartTrack for management reporting. The driver is also sent a text message and an audible alert that a fatigue breach has been registered.

Driver Operation and Interface

The Fatigue Management interface on the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) makes it easy for drivers to monitor their work and break status:

• A driver can take a break by pressing the "Start-Break" button in the dedicated Driver Menu on the MDT. Breaks are automatically timed.
• The Driver Menu always displays the current break length, e.g. "Break taken in mins: 27 mins".
• The Driver Menu will alert the driver when they have satisfied the criteria for either a major or minor break, for example: "Valid: 30min BREAK".

Don’t let your drivers fight their body clocks, they can’t beat nature.

Driver break management

The Fatigue Management application runs a series of checks when a driver completes or is on a break:

• If the driver has satisfied the required break criteria in terms of a single Major Break or two Minor Breaks then the Fatigue Timer is automatically reset to the WP.
• If the driver has not completed the required break criteria, the fatigue timer continues its countdown until it expires.
• Drivers are determined to be "off break" if the Fatigue Management application determines that the driver has recommenced driving.
• The application also has the option to detect other parts of the vehicle. For example if a PTO has been utilised this will also determine the driver to be "off break".