Staying In Touch

Driver tracking leads to improved efficiencies, safety.

JIM BEACH • TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

In some ways, vehicle tracking and driver tracking are the same thing. In other ways, they represent completely different parts of a fleet's mobile communications strategy. In most cases, if you know your truck's location, you also know the driver's location. If you have engine data from the truck, you know what the driver is doing: idling, stopped or driving.

Unlike a tractor or trailer, a driver won't have an antennae attached (unless he's carrying a smart cell phone). Still, data collected from the truck, with input from the driver, can provide fleet managers with information they can use for better driver management.

Keeping up with the driver's activities was important for some fleets long before they were interested in knowing where their trucks and trailers were at any given moment.

In that light, driver tracking means more than a GPS reading. It also means measuring driver behavior and productivity by recording not only where drivers are, but how fast they've been driving, when they crossed state lines, when they were off-duty and when they were on-duty. And, unlike vehicle location data – used primarily in dispatching and operational planning – driver-tracking data is used throughout a fleet's operation from dispatch to safety to accounting.

Fleets Want More Info

As mobile communication and onboard recording capabilities have improved, fleets ask for more and more information, not only on the vehicles, but on their drivers as well. For instance, at a mobile communications conference early this year, Kevin Bott, executive vice president and chief information officer at Ryder, said the company wants their telematics devices to deliver vehicle location and speed reporting, driver to dispatch communications, vehicle/driver performance data, voice communications, text messaging, street-level mapping, state line crossings, driver logs, remote diagnostics and trailer tracking. Bott says this information can automate many driver paperwork chores. Plus, he said, better information on driver performance means better driver management.

Of course, mechanical tachographs and basic onboard recorders were keeping tabs on drivers before anyone had the notion of sending such information over the air via satellite or cellular communication. Such instruments typically recorded limited data such as road speed and rpm over time. In an interview earlier this year, Joel Beal, executive vice president of Tripmaster Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, noted that companies found they could "tell a lot about driving habits based on road speed and rpm over time."

This data was not delivered in real-time, but extracted from the vehicle whenever it returned to the terminal. Still, the information allowed fleet managers to monitor how their drivers operated their vehicles.

As systems matured, they began allowing driver input, such as state line crossings, delivery times and even hours of service logs. "One thing that became obvious was that it would be really nice if the driver could input some information," Beal said. That meant a driver could tell dispatch where he was when he stopped. Fleets knew when he arrived at a customer's location and when he departed. Drivers could also input state line crossings. Fleets now knew how much mileage the truck had in each state. This input allowed for automated fuel tax reporting.

According to Tom Lemke, vice president of Cadec Corp., Manchester, N.H., allowing driver input meant allowing drivers "to tell their side of the story and engage in the management process by delivering good, clean and explained information."

Mobile communications providers such as Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions and others featuring satellite-based networks made that information available in real-time, which made it even more useful for fleet managers. "That's why mobile communications really took off with the long-haul trucking fleets," Beal said. "While it's nice to know how fast the truck is going and how many stops the driver makes and when he makes those stops, it's a whole lot more interesting if you know about it in a timely fashion."

The ability to view that data, along with vehicle diagnostic information, allows fleets to better monitor their drivers. "I think the long-haul guys are very interested in being able to see vehicle diagnostic and engine performance data coupled with driver behavior data," said Tim Van Cleve, chief operating officer for Teletrac.

For instance, Transcore's GlobalWave tracking system delivers information on engine performance indicators such as oil pressure and coolant level and temperature plus idle times, rpms, odometer readings and speed.

The data can lead to more productive and efficient drivers. Tom Flies, vice president business development, for XATA Corp., Burnsville, Minn., notes that more productive drivers are better compensated drivers.

In a recent interview, Flies said about 95 percent of their customers use electronic logs and other tracking features. For these fleets, driver tracking is a "productivity booster," he said. Electronic logs, fuel tax reporting and other automated tasks eliminate a lot of a driver's paperwork.

Plus, combining an hours of service component with real-time communications help optimize the fleet. "You are able to see not only where your assets are but the capacity of the driver to take another stop, another load," Flies said

Mike Flynn, manager of onboard technology for Penske Truck Leasing said their customers have shown more interest in tracking packages primarily for compliance-related reasons. "The things that are really driving the usage are the compliance tools," he said. "A lot of products can tell you where the trucks are, but when you have tools that can use the data pulled off the engine's computer, the customers get excited about that."

Most mobile communications providers offer such applications, says John Lewis, CEO of GeoLogic, Solutions, Herndon, Va. "Everyone is doing classic vehicle tracking. Most are doing some amount of vehicle and driver performance monitoring with the data we extract from the J1708 data bus on the engine. Some are doing geo-fencing and automatic arrival and departure. Tracking and two-way messaging is now a given on just about any significant system."

Lewis said fleet managers are also interested in getting information to manage both the truck and driver on the road to not only increase vehicle utilization, but also provide information useful to the driver.

Some fleets take it a step further and build bonus systems based on data they collect from their driver and vehicle tracking systems. One company reports raising the pay of its best drivers based on how the drivers score in certain areas such as weekly revenue, fuel stop compliance, accident rate and violations. This company uses its enterprise software package to collect and analyze the data.

Driver tracking can also lead to improved fuel efficiency across the fleet. Flies said fleet managers can look at data such as idle time and shift patterns to determine if a driver is getting the most out of his vehicle in terms of mpg

In the end, according to Flies, driver tracking, along with vehicle tracking, allows fleets to improve their operations in terms "fuel economy, driver productivity and safety."