John Lewis spoke to TruTac about tachograph technology and the services it provides 
Bus and coach operators who need a tachograph analysis package should be provided with one that is tailored to match their precise needs. One that is primarily designed to satisfy hauliers will come nowhere near to meeting their requirements says Lee Oliver, Head of Sales at leading tachograph analysis specialist TruTac. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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“Unlike coach operators on continental work, hauliers tend not to double-man,” he observed. “Coach firms may have to take the 12-day rule into account too, and PSV operators may be running under both domestic and European Union Drivers Hours rules. We can also create attestation reports; something else hauliers do not need,” said Lee. “They’re not always compulsory – the Spanish want to see them, other countries may not – but operators often prefer to have them because it gives them peace of mind. The need for specialisation is why TruTac developed TruAnalysis PSV; the industry’s first dedicated bus and coach tachograph analysis package,” he stated. Its dedicated approach has clearly gone down well with the PSV industry, with Lucketts Travel among its long-standing customers. “Our oldest-established PSV client has been with us since 1994,” Lee said. “Our customer retention rate is 98%,” added TruTac Commercial Director, Jemma James.
TruTac has for some time worked closely with the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) and this co-operation has resulted in CPT Tacho Analysis. Operating along the same lines as TruAnalysis PSV, it includes comprehensive web-based digital and analogue tachograph analysis and takes into account the Working Time Directive as well as EU and domestic hours regulations. “We’ve recently seen an increase in the number of PSV analogue charts we analyse and we’re doing them on a daily basis,” said Jemma.
Something else TruTac has developed is CPT Daily Checks. It enables drivers to record and report any defects during their walk-around check or later in the day using an app on a smartphone or a tablet. If need be they can also provide photographs plus explanatory notes.The accompanying back-office system provides a record of all walk-around checks undertaken including times, dates and places plus information on any defects found, how and when they were rectified, and by whom.
“Daily Checks can be configured in whichever way the operator wishes,” said Jemma. “A minimum time of, say, 15 or 20 minutes can be set for completion to ensure the check is done thoroughly, and coach drivers can be asked for example; to ensure that there is enough tea, coffee and sugar on-board. Not a legal requirement, of course; but passengers must be kept happy. GPRS can be used to monitor where the check is carried out,” she added.
While TruTac has forged strong links with the CPT, and offers its members discounts, its products are available to businesses that are not in CPT membership. Both Lee and Jemma are especially eager to encourage as many firms in the PSV sector as possible to embrace Earned Recognition and are particularly proud to have helped Lucketts achieve it. “They were the first PSV operator to do so and we worked closely with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency throughout the process,” Jemma said.
“80% of PSV operators who have gone for Earned Recognition use our software and we offer an Earned Recognition dashboard free-of-charge to our customers,” she said. It features full drill-down and intuitive graphical data which customers can use to judge their own performance against Earned Recognition key performance indicators; and decide if they can meet the required standard. TruAnalysis comprises reporting packages which allow fleets to monitor and manage all aspects of tachograph data compliance, including Earned Recognition.
Something else the Coventry-based company offers is TruLicence. It allows managers to check the licences of all their drivers, especially from the viewpoints of penalty points and validity; and to ensure a licence has not been revoked. TruTac can provide an online document storage and management system called TruDocument and is working more closely with bus fleets thanks to TruBus, which helps them comply with domestic hours requirements. Under the TruLinks banner TruTac can also help operators integrate tachograph data with the rest of their management software, including their accounts and wages packages. “Drivers can use their digital tacho cards to clock in and clock off,” she pointed out.
Secure digital signature capture from both drivers and managers during debriefing sessions is delivered courtesy of eSignLive. GDPR – the General Data Protection Regulation which came into force in May – has not been ignored, with extra data encryption protection provided with all TruTac’s systems to ensure compliance.
TruTac sells a complete line-up of hardware for managing digital and analogue tachographs including remote download devices, vehicle and card readers and analogue chart scanners. It is an authorised reseller for the Tachosys range which includes digivu, one of the fastest download keys on the market, and digiDL, a remote downloading device.
TruTac customers include Daish’s Holidays which has reported a 50% fall in driver infringements since January when it upgraded to CPT Tacho Analysis. Greatly improved compliance control is among the other benefits. “We use CPT Daily Checks and TruLicence as well,” said Daish Transport Manager, Bryan Maddern. “We have 19 of our 23 coaches hooked up to the system using TruTac’s remote downloading boxes and reporting of all the key information at our fingertips all the time. Using the Daily Checks app enables our drivers to go through their routine daily checks and keep us informed right away of any repairs or vehicles issues which need attention,” he added. “It’s a massive improvement.”
Alfa Travel is another CPT Tacho Analysis and Daily Checks user. “We were using another package until recently but frankly it didn’t tell us easily what we needed to know,” said Alfa Operations Director, Paul Bull. “Our drivers always pre-check the vehicle in their charge before setting off; that’s a given,” he continued. “However with the previous system it was not always possible to accurately record and cross-check any defect observations in a way that provided a solid audit.”
“Customer service is the key so far as we’re concerned,” Jemma said. “We listen to what customers want, we find out what is important to them and what we don’t do is railroad them down a particular route. If customers want to post their analogue charts to us then that is fine, and if they want to send them to us electronically having used a desk-based scanner, then that’s fine too.”
While many operators view analysis simply as a means of achieving compliance, the data it produces can be used as a management tool. It can for example tell operators which drivers still have hours available during the course of a particular day or week. “They can identify which drivers are being used effectively, and which are not,” she said. “Tachograph data can be downloaded remotely for an instant update.” Tachograph technology is continuing to evolve, with the so-called intelligent tachograph due to appear in new vehicles from June 2019 onwards. Forget any idea that enforcement officers will be able to stand at the roadside and remotely interrogate vehicles as they drive past says Lee; even if they have the necessary equipment. The technology will not be that sophisticated, he contends. “The vehicles will have to be stationery,” he observed. “So officers will be visiting rather a lot of coach parks.”
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