March/April 2005

The challenges of the new Road Transport Directive have stimulated mobile computing suppliers to offer some imaginative solutions. So if you're intimidated, take heart, says Sharon Clancy. Help is at hand

Working out the best solution to help you comply with the new Road Transport (Working Time) Directive depends to a certain extent on where you are starting from and what you want to achieve. Legally, all that is required is for operators to demonstrate that they have taken steps to ensure employees comply with the law - and you can do that, theoretically, with paper records. Many operators already keep such records, of course, to demonstrate compliance with drivers' hours rules - backing them up with analysis of a proportion of tachograph charts.

But if ever a piece of legislation invited a more formal - and automated - management regime, this is surely it. Drivers will be able to work fewer hours than currently, and operators will need to include data on non-driving work, holidays, sick days and "Periods of Availability". Employers are likely to find it a real challenge to minimise the impact of this reduction, and to monitor remaining hours, especially towards the end of the "reference period". That's why real-time drivers' hours management tools are likely to be in particular demand.

Software can help you in two ways. One option is for you upgrade the way you handle tachograph analysis so that it includes all charts for all drivers, and to have more frequent reporting. The other is to upgrade existing PC- or Internet-based fleet management software so that transport planning takes into account the new rules on drivers' hours.

 

Some companies have already upgraded the software; others are planning to do so. If you are going down this route, do make sure the software is flexible enough to include all the variables which can affect working hours calculations.

How software and systems can help

The transport planning modules of some fleet management systems already allow companies to allocate drivers to work according to available hours. Some such systems have now been modified to take into account the reduced hours available with the WTD and the new "reference periods". For example, version 2.5 of Fargo Systems' TOPS transport management system incorporates all of the controls necessary to integrate the driver data capture and subsequent analysis into the planning module.

"Retrospective analysis is not enough to ensure compliance," suggests Kevin Terrill, development manager. "What is important is that the transport or resource planner should confidently make decisions based on the very latest driver working time data available to them."

Fargo has built flexibility in to the TOPS program, and made it user-configurable. Operators can redefine the default framework on the basis of workplace agreements and customise the schedule to take account of occasions when transport planners are made aware of impending non-compliance (because drivers are running out of available hours).

To give operators the flexibility in capturing the data, Fargo has included several methods for calculating or capturing driver working time information, together with full historic reporting analysis and forward projections based on hours in the reference period to date.

"The working time regulation requires a much higher level of control by operators and much more care by drivers," says transport law expert Suliman Ismail, who is also acting transport director at Highgate Beds. "For operators, the legislation will mean much closer monitoring of their operations.ÊBy being better informed they will be able to reduce unnecessary time on the road and improve overall efficiency."

Vehicle tracking and telematics company Masternaut has introduced a system called Hourtrak. The special feature of this is that each driver has a unique "driver ID" key, which identifies him or her to Masternaut's Internet-based satellite tracking solution.ÊThis ensures that there is no confusion over who is driving at a particular time. By adding a dashboard data terminal, the driver can easily switch his or her status to record working and non-working time. The same terminal can be used for receiving delivery jobs, and point-to-point navigation to the next destination. Vehicle data is all relayed via the Internet in real time, giving operators full control over operations Ð and drivers a very easy way to record their hours.

Hourtrak automatically calculates working time, including each driver's running average, throughout the reference period. It also highlights potential problems or breaches of the regulations, using a highly visible colour coding. Amendments are recorded with a brief reason for the change, providing a complete audit trail for future reference.

"Our challenge has been to design something that handles all the many complexities and variables, makes the service really simple to use by both drivers and operators, and is sound enough to stand up in court as evidence should it ever come to that," says managing director Martin Port.

Wire3 Technologies, another tracking systems specialist, has opted for an RFID solution for its WTD system. The driver carries a card like a credit card which automatically registers with an in-cab reader and identifies the individual. An alternative version allows recording via Wire3's existing in-cab computer terminal (where fitted). The company's analysis system is reckoned to be a little unusual in being able to present records for a full 17-week reference period in a single, easy-to-assimilate report.

Crown Computing, which specialises in workforce management software, has added a driver scheduling system to its Open Options time and attendance application. "Compliance with WTD is largely a book-keeping exercise," says Nick Kay, corporate solutions manager. "You can comply using a paper-based system, if necessary, but that does not give operators the tools necessary to minimise the impact that the WTD will have on their costs."

He adds: "One way operators can do this is to maximise the use of the Period of Availability, but to do that you need accurate re-coding of available hours. If a driver has eight hours left, it makes sense to put him on a seven-hour route. If it's a ten-hour route and the driver only has seven hours left, the two clearly do not match. The scheduler needs to know exactly what hours have been worked and what available time has been recorded."

Open Options allows operators to capture driver data from timesheets, telematics systems and tachographs, but you can also enter information manually from timesheets.

Paragon claims to be the first company to link drivers' hours history into a routing and scheduling package. The scheduling software knows exactly what hours each driver can work and can tailor the schedules to match. "Linking the Paragon software to a driver history system turns a tool that simply reports compliance into one that plans it," explains Charlie Nockold, managing director.

Road Tech Computer Systems, the Shenley-based fleet management software company, has appreciated more than most that effective use of working time will rely heavily on flexibility. Its RTD Internet-based hours management software allows real-time updates to drivers' hours from a desk, mobile phone or PDA. The cost is £1 per week per driver and includes free software, which you download to run on the PC or mobile device.

To log working time, all you need is a GPRS-enabled mobile phone, Internet access or a touch-screen. Drivers simply log the times that they start and finish work or their breaks. The RTD software records the times, calculates total working hours and informs you of any infringements that have been made. All time periods including start/stop work, breaks and PoAs can be logged, and the data is then stored on Road Tech's servers. Managers can also enter data manually from drivers' timesheets. RTD can also be linked to Road Tech's in-cab Cablink traffic management system.

Mandata, a long-time rival to Road Tech, now also has a PDA-based WTD product, which collects relevant information relating to working, driving breaks and other key information, and provides feedback to the driver on hours worked by day and also by week. It also alerts office personnel to any infringements, reporting hours remaining and the total hours worked through any given period.

The company says the system simply requires a standard Internet connection, and should even run on some mobile phones. It can work either as a stand-alone system or in conjunction with Mandata's Manpack software. It is priced competitively at 75p per driver.

Tachograph analysis

Exentra Transport Solutions reckons 158 million tachograph records are created within the UK transport industry every year, yet only a small percentage (estimates vary from 10 to 30 per cent) are analysed. A sound step towards ensuring compliance with the WTD would be collecting charts and sending them off in batches for analysis, but it's not quite as straightforward as that. You will also need to add extra data such as other work done, holidays and sick days.

The other big factor to take into account is that using chart analysis as a tool to ensure working time rules are complied with only works if you analyse all of the charts for every driver in the fleet all of the time. It also means training drivers to use the tachograph modes correctly, warn the experts. "Drivers will have to be trained to use the tachograph in all four modes, not just the two or three they are used to," explains Andrew Thornley, of Siemens VDO. "If you are relying on the tachograph chart or smartcard to prove compliance with the WTD, it must have as complete information on it as possible."

However, turning this into a positive, the WTD could transform the humble tachograph chart into a transport planning tool, thanks to Internet access. Indeed, companies such as Siemens VDO and Exentra are already geared up to produce WTD compliance based on chart analysis.

Exentra's Smartanalysis software is already used by tachograph analysis bureaux such as Tachodisc, and is also available to any operator with an Internet connection on pay-per-use basis. "Operators can turn a legal requirement into a management tool," says managing director Steve Fisher.

Data from individual tachograph charts is scanned into a PC, and then uploaded on to the Smartanalysis, either by the fleet operator or by one of the tachograph bureaux. The software can analyse paper-based charts and is configured to receive data from smartcards when digital tachographs are introduced. Fisher thinks this will help operators in the period of transition from analogue to digital tachographs. "Smartanalysis records all the data for each driver in the reference period, so drivers can switch between analogue and digital tachographs."

The system is Internet-based, so you can get an instant analysis of the chart. Data is stored on Exentra's web site, and can be accessed by an authorised manager with the right password from any location. "The reports can be sent automatically to anyone within the operators' business who needs to know the information," says Fisher, "so managers can be more proactive. "Reports can be on a weekly, monthly or period basis and we can use exception reporting to alert operators to issues with particular depots, drivers or vehicles."

Siemens VDO's my-fis tachograph analysis system accommodates WTD rules. The company's Andrew Thornley expects compliance to get easier for operators as digital tachographs enter service. "Using analogue charts, it currently takes about thirty to forty-five minutes to analyse the data for a single driver for a month. With smartcards, that time will be cut to about five minutes."

Smartcards will also make turnround of the data much faster, says Thornley. "Having old data available isn't so important at the beginning of a reference period, but can make a great deal of difference towards the end, when drivers may be getting short of available hours."

THE ROAD TRANSPORT (WORKING TIME) REGULATIONS 2005: The new rules

The RTD extends the Working Time Regulations 1998 to all mobile workers subject to drivers' hours regulations 3820/85/EC. Effectively this means drivers of any vehicle with a tachograph in it, which in turn means any vehicle over 7.5 tonnes gross. Self-employed drivers are excluded until 2009 (but the definition is quite strict), as are occasional mobile workers (those working less than 15 days in a 26-week period).

What is working time

Weekly working time is limited to an average of 48 hours, calculated over a four-month "reference period". Average weekly working time should be calculated over 17 weeks, but can be extended to 26 weeks if the workforce agrees (to help flexibility in peak periods. The weekly maximum is 60 hours, but the 48-hour average must be maintained.

Night workers are restricted to 10 hours in any 24-hour period.

The reference period for any calculation starts at 0.00 hours on a Monday morning.

Working time includes: driving; loading/unloading; training; cleaning and maintenance of the vehicles; work related to vehicle safety such as securing a load; administrative work; any time during which the mobile worker cannot freely dispose of his or her time and is required to be available for normal work; time spent on duty in the warehouse; and waiting periods where the duration of the wait is not known in advance.

Travel between home and work is excluded, as are rest and breaks where no work is done; periods of availability (PoA); evening classes; and day-release courses.

Periods of Availability

A PoA is waiting time which is known about in advance. The DfT defines this as when the worker is not required to remain at his or her workstation (that is, in the cab) but must be available to start or resume work on request. Examples of acceptable PoAs include accompanying a vehicle by train or ferry; waiting at border crossings; delays due to traffic prohibitions such as lorry ban periods; time spent in the vehicle as a passenger when part of a crew.

However, if a driver is kept waiting at a distribution centre but is not told in advance how long the wait will be, that time counts as working time, not a PoA.

Rests and breaks

Drivers' hours regulations still take precedence. Drivers must take a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours of driving and have 11 hours' consecutive rest in each 24-hour period. This can be reduced to 9 hours three times a week, although it must be compensated for over a fortnightly period. These rest periods also apply to travelling crew members.

The RTD rules will affect drivers who also do other work, such as in the warehouse. The maximum working time without a break is six hours, after which workers must take a break, which must be a minimum of 15 minutes. Between six and nine hours, a 30 minute break is required; over nine hours, breaks must total 45 minutes.

Holidays

Each holiday week counts as 48 hours towards working time averages, and each day is eight hours' working time.

Records

Records must be kept for two years. Employers are responsible for keeping working time records. Employment agencies must keep records for all mobile workers paid by them and take copies of tachograph records.

Employers hiring temporary staff must get written details of time spent working for another employer

Mobile workers are responsible for telling employers of work done for another employer.

Enforcement

The Vehicle and Operators' Services Agency is responsible for enforcing the regulations in England and Scotland. In Northern Ireland it will be the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency.

VOSA says it plans to give operators the benefit of the doubt initially, and will assume breaches will be through ignorance rather than a deliberate attempt to flout the rules. It can issue improvement notices and a timetable to put things right, or an enforcement notice for more serious practices.

Source: Department for Transport