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GPS as a fatigue management tool questioned


As the National Transport Commission (NTC) and notable fleets like Toll and Linfox prepare to push legislation through supporting GPS as a mandatory tool for curbing fatigue-related accidents, Australian fatigue monitoring technology company Optalert calls the move dangerously misguided.
 
The National Transport Commission’s recent discussion paper, Improving the Basic Fatigue Management Option, has received criticism from the company whose underlying technology was invented by an authority on sleep medicine, Dr Murray Johns.
 
Optalert chief executive officer John Prendergast says that although he fully supports the NTC’s desire to decrease fatigue-related accidents in the transport industry, the current approach is fundamentally flawed.
 
“Our sole purpose for existing as a company is to eliminate fatigue accidents,” said Mr Prendergast. “This is a sustainable goal being achieved by forward-thinking fleets, mining operators, long-haul bus and 4x4 drivers using OPTALERT alertness monitoring technology.”
 
“While we applaud the NTC and fleets such as Toll and Linfox for wishing to actively implement a system that will act as an anti-fatigue device, we believe that GPS is not the correct technology with which to achieve this goal.
 
“GPS is an undeniably useful technology for managing on-time deliveries and informing fleet management on the whereabouts of its drivers and machinery. From a return on investment perspective, we agree a fleet could not be profitable without it. But to suggest that GPS can make the highway safer by preventing fatigue is quite misguided.”
 
Mr Prendergast says his main concern with the proposed move is that it does not take into consideration the nature of driver fatigue, which he says cannot be calculated or averaged out using GPS. Moreover, he says it makes the assumption that drivers are always fit for work when they start their shift and fails to consider influencing factors outside of the workplace. He sights looking after a sick child late into the night, marital issues, or even a big night out with friends as just some of the very real reasons for tiredness behind the wheel – well before a journey has even begun.
 
“We’ve seen drivers close to a fatigue-related accident after only 30 minutes on the road – nowhere near the proposed 9-hour GPS guide that is being discussed as the ‘cut off point’ by those pushing for mandatory use of telematic technology (GPS). In fact, we have statistics that show the majority of incidents occur within 45 minutes of leaving the depot.
 
“Truck driving is a unique profession with some inherently unique risks,” he adds. “Drivers must be attentive and alert at all times – there is no opportunity for error. That challenge, combined with the fact that the driver is highly likely to be working shifts and have a whole pile of out-of-work stresses, makes fatigue a very human condition.
 
“The only way to accurately measure the alertness of a driver during his journey is to monitor him in real time,” stresses Mr Prendergast. “This cannot be done through GPS, which uses pre-determined calculations to guess fatigue levels.”
 

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