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Charts reveal all

14th December 1995
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Page 34, 14th December 1995 — Charts reveal all
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Tachograph

Reading your tachographs accurately is essential if you are to remain on the right side of the law, but manual checking of discs is not always failsafe.

Some transport managers might not wish to know about every little mistake their drivers make, but these drivers often incur fines, risk 0-licences and bring more bad exposure to an industry with an already poor public image.

Any incidents of goods vehicles causing injury or damage are likely to be seized on as "evidence" that some drivers are a menace to other road users and the public at large.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of individual cases, anti-truck campaigners are unlikely to be satisfied unless they are given assurances that operators have a tight rein on the use of each vehicle in their fleets to ensure the highest levels of safety. Grey areas are unacceptable. They provide the margins and the excuses for the real cowboy operators to exploit.

Tachograph analysis has long been one of the greyest areas. Tachographs are often thought of as old, low-tech and vulnerable to well-known abuses. Now, a new company—

TruTac—is providing a computerised analysis service designed to take away much of the guesswork and estimation that manual checks entail.

Nicholas Wright, transport and logistics manager of Mansped in Wellingborough, has been using TruTac since September 1994 after it was recommended by parent company United Carriers. He says: "Tachograph laws are over-complicated and leave many areas open to individual interpretation. They are too easy for illegal operators to hide behind.

Anything that helps to clarify the system can only be good." Managers can read each disc themselves, but a thorough • analysis takes about two-and-a half minutes, and even one disc per vehicle per day soon mounts up to a pile of paperwork they can do without "I used to do it myself simply to meet 0-licence regulations," says Wright, "but it was a pain. Now we run six trucks in the UK and I knew I'd get swamped.

"For example, drivers' night breaks are very easy to misinterpret. But the computer cannot miss anything. It acts as a safety net. I am now shown anything that the law could feasibly pick up and that is reassuring. Tr uTac's analysis is exceptionally useful—it takes the heartache out of fleet management. I use it to cover the legal requirements, commissioning 100% analysis, so I know we are operating entirely within the law.

"We all have a responsibility to the public to make a commitment on safe operation, so we might as well employ the legal framework that exists, faulty though it is. Do it right and it can help you in other respects—you can use it to benefit your operation."

Derek Fisher, transport manager of Cambridge-based Spicers, switched to TruTac 13 months ago from another bureau, tempted by promises of cheaper, quicker and more accurate analysis. The company sent him a flyer advertising its new computerised tachograph analysis. Fisher knew exactly what he wanted, and, after a successful trial run, found that TruTac was able to tailor its service to meet his requirements.

"I send off three weeks'-worth of discs every quarter—which is running a 25% analysis on our fleet of 17 vehicles," he says. "If I want extra data I simply ask for it. They do what I want a lot cheaper than other suppliers. Spicers is keen to be known as a company that works within the law. I want particular aspects of our operation regularly monitored, and the analysis provides that information immediately, in time for quick measures to be taken, if necessary"

Easy reference

Spicers can expect a 72-hour turnround, from posting the discs to receiving driver reports. Each summary is printed on a single sheet of paper for easy reference, and comes with recommendations for each driver in the fleet to check and act upon. Fisher says: "The drivers are happy to be talked through their reports and are rarely surprised by the results they see. They understand what is being done and why."

Mansped also finds that drivers are not intimidated by the prospect of thorough analysis. Wright says: "I sit down with each driver and go through the infringements. They are now quite comfortable with it. If they are proved wrong they admit it—then they can do things to rectify the problems. It is a good educational tool which can help your workforce to become more in tune with regulations and requirements."

It can also help with the bigger picture. He says: "When drivers are doing something wrong, then it often follows that there is something wrong with the company. If the drivers are running out of hours, it might mean there are not enough drivers. I have to run a legal operation as effectively as possible with the resources I have available. Analysis sometimes helps."

Wright found that drivers filling in the centre field incorrectly was causing the greatest number of errors to be highlighted in the reports.

He says: "Writing across the trace, or spelling Wellingborough 'W-borough' are offences. They can carry bigger fines than some really serious infringements because they count as forgery. But they are the easiest problems to rectify once they have been pointed out. The drivers now take particular care to complete the written details accurately" Wright and Fisher both admit that computerised analysis is only a small step towards cutting out the illegal operator, What it does represent for those companies ------

happy to scrutinise their driving --------------------------

operations, is an easy, reliable method _ ------------___ of confirming that they at least,

operate within the law. ----- Without strict legislation on ,;.tt,'

compulsory, full analysis it ;77 can be little else.

But it might also mean a .1 stay of execution for ..7/mechanical tachographs. -IL; Technology is fast 4 bringing the possibility ill 8 of advanced methods of 711 t vehicle tracking. 4X: I ' Tachographs will 4I remain cheap to make

and fit, and, provided ' they can be developed to remain competitive against other systems, may be with us a while longer.

0 by Rob Willock.


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