Half of European transport companies have been inspected for drivers’ hours compliance in the past year
Written by: Abaranji Sivakumar, Last updated:9th February 2022
More than half (52 per cent) of the transport companies in Europe have had their offices inspected or audited for drivers’ hours compliance in the past 12 months.
A new study from TomTom Telematics also found that 43 per cent of the companies surveyed have been the subject of roadside inspections between one and five times in the last year.
A similar proportion (41 per cent) of transport companies say they’ve been forced cancel jobs that they wanted to assign to drivers due to not being able to check drivers’ remaining hours for the day.
Beverley Wise, sales director at TomTom Telematics in the UK and Ireland, said the research makes it clear that staying compliant with regulation over drivers’ hours can create admin hassles and disrupt productivity.
“[More than 60 per cent] of our respondents now use remote downloads to manage their tachograph data, which is unsurprising given how much simpler and less time-consuming that method is,” she commented.
“A significant minority, however, still rely on manual downloading to stay compliant, which means their large goods vehicles (over 3,500kg) need to be off the road when it’s time to capture the required data.
She added that of those that manually download, four in ten spend between 30 minutes and an hour per vehicle retrieving tachograph data every month.
The survey also touched on fuel usage, productivity and safety concerns.
Almost half (49 per cent) of transport companies now monitor mileage in order to tackle fuel wastage, while 38 per cent invest in driver training for this purpose.
When it comes to ensuring drivers are behaving safely on the roads, 42 per cent are now running training programmes, while a third monitor driver behaviour and 15 per cent invest in one-to-one management sessions.
Jez Strong, general manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “It’s no secret that telematics can be a fleet manager’s best friend, providing hugely useful insights into what their drivers are doing right and where they can improve.”
Your business can benefit from affordable telematics with no hidden start-up fees or long-term commitments. Find out how at www.tele-gence.com
Photo: chinaface/iStock
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