TELEMATICS
At the Telematics Middle East 2019 conference, road safety and, by extension, driver behaviour were key topics that everyone we spoke to zeroed in on.
Telematics may be the key to the UAE’s zero accident ambitions.
WE’VE DEPLOYED OUR SOLUTIONS IN 11,000 TAXIS OVER THE YEARS AND 3,000 SCHOOL BUSES IN THE UAE ALONE, AND NOW WE’RE EXPANDING INTO OTHER GCC COUNTRIES,” JACK JIANGM SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, HOWEN TECHNOLOGIES
The benefits of telematics in reducing fuel consumption, optimising route planning and generally boosting efficiency have long been embraced by the logistics industry in the GCC, particularly the UAE. But, another essential component to an efficient fleet, road safety, remains an afterthought for many. Commercial vehicle owners have long operated with a ‘cheapest is best’ approach to new acquisitions, but in recent years the commercial vehicles sector in the UAE has undergone a major shift, driven by new regulations on safety. “The UAE government is looking to combine vision and technology to bring safety regulations up, along with all other regulations regarding society, environment, and so on,” says Vladimir Knezevic, managing director of FAMCO UAE, which distributes Volvo Trucks in the UAE. “Demand
for safety features such as that found in the new Volvo range will be followed by regulation, as new rules and laws are brought in aimed at helping the UAE achieve its goal of zero accidents on the roads.” To achieve this ambitious target, a major shift is needed in the approach logistics companies take to their fleet and drivers. “More than 90 per cent of accidents are due to
IF YOUR DRIVERS ARE DRIVING DANGEROUSLY, IT INCREASES THE RISK OF DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE ITSELF OR THE CARGO,” DIETRICH BRUNNER, GLOBAL SALES MANAGER, INSURANCE INDUSTRY, BOSCH CONNECTED DEVICES & SOLUTIONS
errors. And accidents do not discriminate - they’re not based on nationality, educational background and driving experience,” says Mohammad Akber, Tristar Group general manager for HSE, Quality and Sustainability. “It is the moral obligation of companies to properly educate their drivers on road safety.” On the sidelines of Telematics Middle East 2019 a new report was released by RoadSafetyUAE that found 45 per cent of all road accidents in the UAE (and as much as 63 per cent in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi) are caused by young drivers (18 to 30 years old), according to data released by the Ministry of Interior (MOI). The data further shows that the main causes for accidents within this age group are speeding, using phones behind the wheel and not keeping a safe distance between vehicles. All of these hazards are common to commercial vehicle drivers who run to tight schedules and are required to check-in with HQ or clients during their journeys. In a follow-up study by RoadSafetyUAE, it was found that among 18 to 24 year olds, the main reason for speeding (72%) was due to running late. “Young drivers score worst in many dimensions of reckless driving when compared with older drivers, as our studies testify,” RoadSafetyUAE said in a statement. “It seems only with experience and when growing older, UAE’s motorists adjust their behaviour and drive safer.” Stakeholders interacting with young motorists need to be cognizant of their vulnerability and need to engage with them to protect them by passing on their experience of safe conduct on our roads, the study recommends. “Young drivers are significantly more distracted, tailgate more, and use their indictors and seat belts less than the average motorist,” said Thomas Edelmann, managing director, RoadSafetyUAE on the sidelines of Telematics Middle East 2019. “When probed for the reasons for their behaviour, some patterns crystalise: running late is a key ingredient both in speeding and tailgating. A lack of a caring attitude can be observed by statements like having less empathy for tailgated motorists, indicating less out of habit or not wanting to appear inexperienced, less demanding towards passengers and children to use their seat belts, which is coupled with a significantly lower level of knowledge about the new seat belt law.” It is for reasons such as these that telematics solutions providers are looking to provide products that address driver safety in the region. Sygic has unveiled a new Driver Scoring SDK for fleets, which works offline and is easy-to-integrate into existing solutions, including mobile apps and fleet management, without any additional hardware costs. To achieve the best accuracy, Sygic technology uses smartphones sensors including GPS position and accelerometer. Based on this data, the unique algorithm analyses the driver’s behaviour behind the wheel in real time and reflects it to the driver score. Each trip is registered automatically, with no additional driver interaction needed. Logistics Middle East spoke with Matej Duricek, sales manager for Sygic, on the sidelines of the Telematics Middle East Con-ferhuman
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT OUR TECHNOLOGY IS THAT IT GIVES ADVICE TO THE DRIVERS AT THE SAME TIME THEY MAKE THE MISTAKE,” MATEJ DURICEK, SALES MANAGER, SYGIC YOUNG DRIVERS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DISTRACTED, TAILGATE MORE, AND USE THEIR INDICTORS AND SEAT BELTS LESS THAN THE AVERAGE MOTORIST,” THOMAS EDELMANN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ROADSAFETYUAE
ence about the new Driver Scoring SDK and broader trends in the regional telematics industry. “What is unique about our technology is that it gives advice to the drivers at the same time they make the mistake. Additionally, the score is stored and can be later evaluated by their company to collect rewards or create monthly charts of best drivers,” said Duricek. “We believe, that positively motivated drivers make lesser mistakes, resulting in fewer accidents and better car longevity,” he added. Driver scoring uses five variables to calculate the score – speed, acceleration, braking, cornering, and distraction level. Each event is recorded in the route report and streamlined directly to the driver. Reflecting the trend where fleet and workforce management solutions rely more and more on mobile apps, Sygic offers an industry-grade solution that is tailored for the smartphone environment. Compared to costly hardware solutions for driver behaviour monitoring, app implementation represents an important competitive advantage against other solutions in the market. “We have worked closely with the drivers themselves and companies with fleets. What we understood is that they expect the driver scoring solution to be flexible, easy-tointegrate into other apps without any further investments into additional hardware like black boxes or other devices,” said Sygic VP for Enterprise Solutions in Sygic Jozef Klinovsky. According to the case study Driving for Work, the adoption of driver behaviour telemetry in fleets delivers a return on investment within eight months. Companies which used driver scoring recorded a decrease of incidents by 87 percent and maintenance by 30 percent. The demo version of Driving Scoring telemetry is available for testing on request from Sygic, which is a GPS navigation vendor trusted by more than a million professional drivers globally. The full release of the SDK for iOS and Android is scheduled for the end of Q2. According to Dietrich Brunner, global sales manager, insurance industry, Bosch Connected Devices & Solutions, pre-emptive action through the use of senor data can also vastly reduce instances of dangerous driving. “Our mobility solutions and logistics solutions, which create value for fleet managers by increasing clarity and visibility,” he said at Telematics Middle East 2019. “So senor devices can show the fleet managers and their clients the location and status of cargoes. The same goes for the fleet itself, if your drivers are driving dangerously, it increases the risk of damage to the vehicle itself or the cargo. So these solutions will flag this up to the fleet operators and prevent that risk.” While Sygic and Bosch Connected Devices & Solutions are focused on sensor data and driver scoring systems, Howen Technologies, which was also present at Telematics Middle East 2019, said that CCTVs are seeing growing interest from fleet operators. “We’ve deployed our solutions in 11,000 taxis over the years and 3,000 school buses in the UAE alone, and now we’re expanding into other GCC countries,” says Jack Jiangm sales & marketing director, Middle East, Howen Technologies. “We’ve cornered the market when it comes to the deployment of CCTV in commercial fleets, but now what everyone is talking about is AI and IoT, so we’re looking to expand our solutions and develop an intelligent, smart, radio surveillance system.”