Everybody hates White Van Man, the tailgating hooligan in your rear-view mirror, in a hurry, flashing his lights and using the Highway Code as some sort of optional guide to manners on the road. But White Van Man’s days may be numbered. Technology is set to force him to walk.
GPS tracking devices and on-board computers have been helping business managers to keep an eye on their drivers for years, but now the latest technologies are combining to monitor every aspect of an employee’s behaviour behind the wheel — in real time.
Every swerve, stamp on the brake pedal and acceleration over the speed limit can be monitored and recorded by a new generation of “black boxes” sending data continuously to managers of company vehicles back at base.
The exact location, fuel usage record and even cornering speeds of individual drivers can be accessed instantly. Companies say that the new systems are helping to increase “driver compliance” and to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
More to the point, the California-based Trimble Mobile Resource Management is bringing its latest telemetrics and tracking product — GeoManager DNA Driver — to Britain. White Van Man, you have been warned.
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Andrew Yeoman, managing director of Trimble MRM, said that about 30,000 vehicles on British roads were already using the GeoManager system, with about 500 being added every day. BT signed up for its OpenReach engineers several months ago. British Gas became a customer last week.
Mr Yeoman said: “Improving road safety is paramount to us and our fleet customers. Driver DNA uses diagnostics to ensure workforces are driving carefully and helps save companies money by running teams more effectively.”
Trimble, which is based in Sunnyvale in the heart of Silicon Valley and has an annual turnover of $1.3 billion (£780 million), is the first company to combine the latest in tracking and diagnostic technologies into a sole product. In trials, it said, the Driver DNA box made drivers safer, forcing them to stick to the rules of the road.
“This is the technology equivalent of that sticker on the back of the vehicle saying ‘how is my driving?’ with a phone number. We are constantly measuring, recording and transmitting data and this allows organisations to make that assessment themselves,” Mr Yeoman said.
Reckless drivers have been targeted repeatedly by the Government. Statistics released last year by the Institute of Transport Management showed that one in three company drivers had an accident every year. The figure was even higher for those driving over 12,000 miles a year.
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Companies looking to keep a closer watch on their drivers can expect to spend about £25 per vehicle a month for the new DNA Driver technology.
The technology works by linking the Trimble “black box” to the vehicle’s onboard computer, allowing managers to monitor the car’s systems in real time. The black box contains a sophisticated three-axis accelerometer that measures speed, direction and G-forces.
Some have likened the new technologies to having a speed camera in the car going off every few seconds. It is possible, using the system’s accurate GPS equipment, to tell if drivers are exceeding the speed limit.
In the future, telemetrics systems will be able to detect in advance when a vehicle is going too fast into a bend and warn the driver. From there it will be a small step to introduce automatic braking in such circumstances.
Thousands of companies in the UK use a broad range of GPS tracking products at present and Trimble is looking to grab market share from rivals such as Quartix and Trakm8.
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Jack Elam, an electrical contracting and air conditioning engineering company in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has installed Quartix tracking in 20 of its vehicles. When a customer calls in with an emergency, the company uses the web-based system to locate the nearest vehicle and work out the most efficient route. The system also allows managers to track private mileage usage in company vehicles. Andrew Quinney, a Jack Elam manager, said: “If there is an issue, we can have a quiet word, based on what the tracking is telling us.”
A programme to help van users to improve safety, cut running costs and reduce environmental impact was launched last week by Paul Clark, the Transport Minister. The aim of the van best practice programme is to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that an overall improvement in fuel efficiency of 5 per cent would save about £250 million per year, reducing carbon emissions by 750,000 tonnes.
One union said that it had mixed feelings about its members being monitored by tracking devices. Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the CWU, which represents BT’s OpenReach workers, said: “The CWU acknowledges that there is a growing use of GPS and tracking technology by employers. We are also conscious that this can stoke genuine concerns amongst our members about potential abuse.
“We have negotiated a code of practice with OpenReach, which we believe balances the company’s aim of greater efficiency with the rights of the individual not to be overly spied on.”