Truck and Track Summer 2021

www.truckandtrack.com Summer 2021 Truck and Track 25 BREXIT - DESCARTES meet their delivery assignments within the drivers’ hours limits and work overtime, increasing stress and causing drivers to retire or look for work elsewhere. Using optimised routes that accurately represent the road network, driving conditions, stop times plus the grouping of deliveries, will reduce driver stress and improve retention. Drivers will be more confident they can execute the day’s work and will not find themselves making corrections mid-route, breaking speed limits or drivers’ hours obligations to make timed deliveries because the original plan was not feasible. This will help fleet operators grow their driver pool as they hire additional drivers and not replacements. New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning can also help improve driver retention by identifying down-to-the-driver factors that create personalised driver routes based upon the productivity or knowledge of the driver. For instance, an experienced driver may be 10%more productive than someone who has just started. Machine learning can also identify which drivers complete their work in less than planned time and can take on more deliveries, increasing visibility and ensuring the driver is capable of more deliveries in advance. Telematics Utilising technology has an important role in improving driver productivity and retention. Operators that have adopted telematics and mobile data communications have found it encourages efficiency and best driver practice. Integrating telematics and mobile data communications allows the fleet manager and end customers to see exactlywhere a vehicle and delivery is in real-time against the plan and schedule set by the routing and scheduling software. For transport operators this gives them the ability to add new jobs in or implement corrective action to re-route a vehicle to avoid traffic, keeping vehicles committed to a collection time, or automatically warning the end customer in advance should the driver be running early or late. Telematics combined with advanced routing and scheduling software can transform supply chain performance. Not only by optimising delivery efficiency through intelligent routing, but also through reduced mileage and fuel consumption. Telematics data can be used to produce fuel efficiency reports by monitoring drivers’ habits including idling, revving, speeding and comparing vehicles’ and drivers’ fuel consumption. This data also helps to identify improvement areas when training drivers to drive in a more efficient manner. In turn, this can reduce the requirement for vehicle maintenance and servicing – all contributing to lower costs and maximising profits. Additionally, for HGV drivers, telematics can identify driving styles not suitable for the load, coaching the driver in a timely fashion rather than days after the event. This helps to improve driver retention and productivity, allowing for fleet managers to feel secure their drivers are receiving the best information possible to help them perform successful deliveries. Compliance With a shortage of drivers, some road transport operators may be pushing or blatantly breaking drivers’ hours rules to make deliveries and meet the customer demands they face. This not only compromises road safety for all road users, potentially causing accidents from drivers being too tired to react quickly but puts the business at risk of fines or more severe penalties for the seriously and serially non-compliant operators if they are stopped by the DVSA. Operators need a simple and convenient way to stay on top of their compliance requirements and fleet managers can do this by maximising operational efficiency, minimising driver stress and maintaining compliance with drivers’ hours and vehicle maintenance. No driver wants to be put in the position of making the choice between missing a delivery or breaking drivers’ hours to make it. Combining fleet and compliance management ensures that delivery capacity and driver utilisation can be optimised without compromising drivers’ hours compliance. By using automatic remote download of digital tachograph data for analysis and reporting, combined with driving licence and driver CPC verification with the DVLA, as well as driver vehicle safety checks, all in one compliance management platform, operators can practice proactive driver compliance management to underpin optimisation of their fleet’s efficiency. Time savings can be unlocked using remote, automated download of tachograph data via installed telematics devices as vehicle unit and driver card tachograph data can be downloaded whilst the vehicle is being used. Drivers can be prompted to follow the required vehicle safety checks before they start driving via a mobile app, ensuring the correct process is followed with an audit trail of location, duration and time of the checks conducted. While the ability to attach photographs enables drivers to highlight any potential issues in real time before they embark. Any vehicle maintenance issues can be reported in real-time and operators can be assured that safety isn’t compromised by roadworthiness. Having the right tools to combine efficiency and compliance will go a longway to relieve some of the pressure andmaintain operations, as close to ‘business as usual’ as possible in the face of the driver shortage. Getting into gear Withtechnologythatprovidescontinuousbackgroundoptimisation of resources, operators can get more out of their existing resources. Advanced route optimisation will improve driver experience and telematics and mobile data communication will improve fleet management. These are testing times for every business, but those that can adapt now and capitalise on technology that can unlock valuable efficiencies will be the ones that will come out the other side stronger and in a better position to ride the wave of future demand fluctuations. From integrated transport management to leveraging and sharing real-time data across the supply chain, transport operators and retailers can better manage assets and achieve the ‘do more with less’ mantra. These solutions can ensure that now and, in the future, companies will have less demand for drivers because they are maximising their existing fleet’s potential. Combating the driver shortage is essential, but is not a challenge that will be solved overnight. While fleet operators should continue to find ways to attract new drivers, they should also place more importance on getting the most out of the resources they already have, but without overstretching their drivers or compromising safety and compliance. So, to get the industry moving again, and to keep it efficient in the long term, technology solutions can go a long way in supporting fleet operators to go the extra mile. To overcome the challenges of driver shortages and cope with the demands facing the industry today and in the future, putting the right solutions in place now is essential. https://routinguk.descartes.com/