GPS Telematics eLogbook Fatigue Management

Drowsy driving is the dangerous combination of driving and sleepiness or fatigue. Drowsy driving is a major problem in many countries. The risk, danger, and often tragic results of drowsy driving are concerning to both drivers, passengers and other road users. This usually happens when a driver has not slept or rested enough, but it can also happen due to untreated sleep disorders, medications, drinking alcohol, or shift work. Since no one knows the exact moment when sleep comes over their body, falling asleep at the wheel is clearly dangerous, but being sleepy affects your ability to drive safely even if you don’t fall asleep.

Fatigue and Drowsiness:

• Makes drivers less able to pay attention to the road.
• Slows reaction time if you have to brake or steer suddenly.
• Affects a driver’s ability to make good decisions.

Drowsy driving is suspected to be a primary cause in more than 20% of road fatalities in Victoria Australia according to TAC. Most fatigue-related accidents occur during normal sleeping hours, and the more severe the crash, the more likely it is that the driver or drivers were fatigued. Fatigue is a likely factor in almost one third of single-vehicle crashes in rural areas.
Many people think fatigue is only a problem for long-distance drivers, however it is just as relevant for short-distance drivers.
People generally don't become fatigued from driving. Usually they are already tired when they get behind the wheel from long hours, shift work, lack of sleep, sleep apnoea or physically demanding roles.

Your body can't fight the need to sleep. Chemicals build up in your brain until they reach a tipping point and you will fall asleep.

Causes of drowsy driving:

• A lack of quality sleep
• Driving when you would normally be sleeping (overnight)
• Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea, a sleeping condition that causes tiredness throughout the day.
• It's important to remember that you can't fight sleep.

Fatigue is easy to detect, with symptoms including:

• Yawning
• Sore or heavy eyes
• Slower reaction times
• Finding you're daydreaming and not concentrating on your driving
• Driving speed creeps up or down
• Impatience
• Impaired driving performance such as poor gear changes
• Stiffness and cramps
• Loss of motivation

How fatigue affects your driving:

Fatigue has a huge impact on your driving and can affect your ability to drive safely, similar to the effect of drink driving. Research shows that being awake for 17 hours has the same affect on your driving ability as a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of 0.05. Going without sleep for 24 hours has the same affect as a BAC of 0.1, double the legal limit in Australia and New Zealand.

Driving while tired or fatigued can result in:

• slower reaction times
• lack of concentration – errors in calculating speed and distance are common
• reduced vigilance and poor judgement
• nodding off – even for a few seconds can result in dire consequences

How to beat driver fatigue

The only way to address fatigue is by sleeping. Make a choice not to drive when tired or follow these guidelines to prevent fatigue:

• get a good night's sleep before heading off on a long trip
• don't travel for more than eight to ten hours a day
• take regular breaks – at least every two hours
• share the driving wherever possible
• don't drink alcohol before your trip. Even a small amount can significantly contribute to driver fatigue
• don't travel at times when you'd usually be sleeping
• take a 15 minute powernap if you feel yourself becoming drowsy

Under existing WHS laws, employers and employees are required to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure safety in the workplace – including managing driver fatigue for employees and contractors. Similarly, the new laws will require all parties in the supply chain to take all ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure safety on the road by managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue.
Under this approach it will not be enough to just rely on the driver to comply with the law if there are other suitable steps that could be taken. Due to the many different modes of operation in the heavy vehicle industry and the many different factors that can influence how transport tasks are undertaken, it is very difficult to define 'reasonable steps' as it will depend on the options reasonably available to a particular business.
WHS laws provide a framework for creating a fatigue management system to assist all employers to meet their obligations for a safe workplace, and includes:

• Implementation of a systematic process of hazard identification, risk assessment, risk control and review in the workplace
• Monitor the health of employees
• Appropriate training, instruction and supervision, including induction and ongoing training for employees (including managers and contractors
• Obtain appropriate information to manage risks
• Consultation with employees and their WHS representatives
• Implement & review control measures over time
• Adequate record-keeping in relation to WHS

This framework is also suitable for use by all parties in the supply chain in order to meet their general duty to manage fatigue under the new laws.
While compliance with these guidelines is voluntary, all parties must take appropriate action to manage the risks of heavy vehicle driver fatigue in order to meet their obligations under both road transport and WHS laws.

Businesses may use any reasonable method to manage driver that the suggestions for managing fatigue in these guidelines be followed by businesses unless better or equally effective methods of managing fatigue are used.
These guidelines may also be used by enforcement agencies and courts in determining whether reasonable steps have been taken to manage heavy vehicle driver fatigue under both the new laws and WHS laws.
Further information is available from transport agencies such as:

• National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (Aus)
• National Transport Commission (Aus)
• New Zealand Transport Agency Drive Safely Fatigue
• New Zealand Transport Agency Logbook Requirements

Most GPS Tracking and Telematics devices are hosted via software that can calculate trip times and distances. Therefore theoretically the software should be able to flag alerts to both driver and back office when vehicles are driven for an excessive period of time which would breach employer or regulatory maximum driving hours.
In a similar manner the software should be able to flag alerts and generate exception reports when vehicles are not parked up for a minimum period of time which would breach employer or regulatory minimum rest breaks.

Although the above scenario is a very simplistic view at monitoring and managing driver fatigue, it forms the basic fundamental building blocks of a driver fatigue management system.
By integrating driver identification and connected apps to the GPS vehicle telematics device, a comprehensive fatigue management system may be structured. This would potentially include:

• GPS Telematics confirmation of time stamped location based data
• Confirmation of driver identification for each trip
• An app which would advise the driver of scheduled rest breaks and when it is time to stop work
• An electronic historical log book available within the app and visible from the back office showing all historical work and rest times, as well as trip times and locations and highlighting any breaches of driver fatigue management rules.