The adoption of technology by heavy vehicle fleets is facilitating regulatory compliance at the same time as improving the efficiency and safety of fleets, according to Anne-Maree Coyne.
Coyne is an IPWEA Fleet Consultant and works with fleet managers on how they can manage their organisation’s Chain of Responsibility (CoR) and comply with the National Heavy Vehicle Law, which applies to vehicles with a gross vehicle mass of more than 4.5 tonnes.
In force since 2014, with a significant overhaul in 2018, the law outlines responsibilities and obligations for fleet managers and supply chain partners to improve health and safety outcomes with a focus on maintenance, driver fatigue, and load management and comes under the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
“The Regulator is both educative and about enforcement,” says Coyne.
“There are penalties and quite heavy ones in the legislation for not complying, including severe consequences for executives, while the educative element can lead to some significant operational efficiencies through improved safety management systems and procedures which reduce risk.”
She says the data collected by technology like telematics has significant benefits beyond regulatory compliance, and can be key to better fleet management practice.
Onboard scales reduce overloading not just for the whole vehicle, but can ascertain loads on critical parts of the vehicle such as axels.
Digitised pre-start checks are improving safety protocols, as this information can be more easily fed back to the workshop to be used in maintenance.
Telematics can measure braking intensity, which is a factor in both safety and maintenance, and cameras in the driver’s cab can be used to assess fatigue.
“These systems and the use of data improves maintenance which improves performance which in turn makes for better driving and improved fatigue protocols,” says Coyne.
“Speeding and incidents are reduced, and that reduces wear and tear and insurance costs, and of course there is the benefit of reducing accident and injury.”
The use of technology is part of a preventative approach to fleet management where data analysis and effective dashboarding can address issues before they occur, reducing stress for fleet managers who in the past have worried about rectifying problems after they occurred.
In some cases these problems extended to prosecution and significant reputational damage to a business, both of which could be extremely costly.
“All this also forms the basis of executives being able to discharge their Chain of Responsibility due diligence duties if they get the right data coming to them from operations,” says Coyne.
Beyond technology, Coyne urges organisations to understand that the legislation includes provisions which span the entire business and also touch supply chain partners.
This has an impact on Human Resources because roles in areas such as loading and unpacking could require particular procedures to make the organisation compliant.
“If fleet managers try and make changes, they need to do it in consultation with managers from other areas, but if they are in a very siloed organisation it can sometimes be difficult,” she says.
Ultimately, managers and executives need to understand their Chain of Responsibility obligations and take an active part in driving compliance.
“This means have knowledge and understanding of safe transport practices, and how the organisation is implementing processes to reduce risk and incidents,” says Coyne.
“There is also a verification piece in the legislation which means they have a duty to monitor and verify the compliance of their operational people, and continue to audit that and make sure measures are maintained and there is continuous improvement.”
“I always emphasise that buy-in from executives is really important. It’s not a case of executives being responsible but not actually doing anything, the bucks stops with them and that means they have to be active.”
