Better Understanding EWDs & Enforcement

 

Electronic Work Diaries (EWDs) are designed to do away with written work diaries and manual paper-based processes to make life easier for everyone in the transport chain. Following the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) decision to approve our EWD fatigue solution as an alternative to written diaries, many members of Australia’s transport industry have shared questions.

With any big shift or cultural change, drivers are sure to have questions and concerns about what this means for them, and how the technology will make life on the road easier for them. To help, we’ve explored a few FAQs below around EWDs and enforcement.

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How Do EWDs Work?

With traditional written work diaries, drivers have to manually record their working and resting hours throughout their day, along with location and other details as required. Times have changed, and the need for a digital work diary is both important for the future of the industry, and progression in your business.

With EWDs, all a driver needs to do is touch the screen of their in-cabin device to record their work and rest times. All the information is captured in real-time and instantly calculated against fatigue rulesets so they don’t have to keep track themselves. An EWD records drivers’ work and rest hours down to the minute, allowing for accurate fatigue status information. It tells you exactly when a rest break is required and breakdown driver fatigue across the individual rules.

To find out more about how an EWD works, check out our FAQ page and infographic.

How Are EWDs Enforced?

Like conventional paper diaries, EWD compliance is enforced at roadside during an impromptu roadside inspection or stop. Enforcement officers will request the EWD from the driver. The driver will then put the EWD into compliance mode before handing it across, which makes it ‘read only’, with the exception of enforcement officer annotations. The enforcement officer can view any breaches longer than 15 minutes that have occurred in the last 28 days, and may take a photo or email a copy of the driver’s fatigue history, excluding breach information, for further analysis.

Enforcement officers are most concerned with reoffending drivers and high-level breaches that put you and others on the road at risk, such as working more than 11 hours in a 12-hour period or driving for more than 144 hours over a two week period when operating under Basic Fatigue Management (BFM)

What Can Enforcement View?

The enforcement officers receive the EWD in a compliance read only view that ensures the driver maintains control of the diary. When in this view, enforcement officers are unable to edit, change or create new entries – after the inspection, the driver just needs to enter their unique PIN to unlock the EWD and carry on with their job. The only item they can input, is any annotations.

The same information that an officer can view in a written work diary to confirm fatigue hours, is viewable to enforcement in an EWD, so they can be assured you’re meeting your necessary compliance requirements.

The options view provides information relating to the system and the driver such as the EWD current status – i.e Not in Breach, driver name and license details, fatigue rule and EWD service provide certification number.

Enforcement officers can see work and rest hours, odometer readings, locations marked, and any violations pointed out by the system.

The annotations tab enables enforcement officers to record details of the intercept including date/time, location and any associated comments.

EWD information not available on the device is not accessible to enforcement officers via a backend system. This information needs to be requested from the driver or record keeper under a lawful request.

How Do EWDs Benefit Drivers?

At their core, EWDs are designed to streamline and simplify tedious manual processes and remove the need for manual data entry, while better protecting drivers from unreasonable work schedules and the dangers of driver fatigue.

For drivers, not having to manually write down your work and rest hours, odometer readings and location allows you to focus on your work by eliminating the need to manage paperwork. By recording accurate data as it comes in, EWDs take away the guesswork from staying compliant. They also give drivers warnings for impending breaches to help you effectively manage your fatigue.

With all vital info instantly accessible and ready to view, EWDs speed up roadside inspections for both parties. Drivers can get back to work swiftly, and enforcement don’t have to waste time cross-checking various paper documents to ensure compliance.

When considering fatigue and electronic work diaries, it’s also important to consider the fleet management solution and vehicle tracking technologies it is paired with AI-enabled telematics technology is designed to simplify your business.

 

Right now, Australia’s transport sector is managing 60 million pages of work diary paper each year, equating to 14 B-Double loads of red tape. Making the switch from paper to digital makes life on the road easier for drivers, takes the stress out of managing compliance, and streamlines roadside inspections – while making it easier to manage fatigue and stay safe.