Open the box
for commercial
vehicle safety
and savings
WORDS BY EUCLIDIC SYSTEMS
O
f the 19.5 million vehicles on Australian
roads, four million are commercial,
including 624,000* heavy vehicles.
With more commercial vehicles on our roads,
up 16.4 per cent in the last five years,* comes
higher fuel consumption, more fatalities,
crashes and poor driving, with heavy vehicles
disproportionately involved in casualty crashes.**
One solution that goes a long way to mitigating
these issues is improving driver behaviour
through the installation of telematics -
telecommunications and informatics systems.
This is supported by studies from the Transport
Research Laboratory (TRL), which shows that a
one kilometre per hour reduction in speed leads
to a three per cent drop in accidents.
Telematics technology produces myriad data
variables to monitor live and historical journeys,
as well as location information integrated with
Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) and National
Heavy Vehicle (NHV) compliance systems.
Real-time alerts track maintenance requirements,
harsh braking, dangerous cornering, idling
time, seat belt-use and rest breaks. Remote
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disable systems track portable assets such as
containers, trailers and cargo.
“The technology is gold-standard, with the latest
data around every business imperative, from
environmental impacts to customer service.
“But often it’s just left in a drawer. Companies
invest in the latest technology to comply with the
regulations and tick the compliance box. Then
it’s ignored,” says Chris Witt, CEO of Euclidic
Systems, a developer of telematics technology.
“There’s little monitoring, management or
training, which is exactly what the technology is
designed to encourage. Companies are wasting
money on their fleets and drivers. Ultimately the
end customers are missing out. The benefits of
using the technology are potentially life-saving.
Fewer accidents, improved safety, driver and
passenger protection, reduced fuel consumption,
maintenance and servicing make the case for less
damage to the environment and the bottom line.”
Chris believes a careless or uninformed approach
to technology is the bane of any business. It can
often be put down to data fatigue or simply that
the department purchasing the technology is
distant from the department using the technology.