Fatigue management in heavy vehicle transport is undergoing a quiet, but significant shift. No longer framed as a driver motivation issue or a matter of “toughing it out”, it is increasingly understood as a biological reality — one that can impair performance as profoundly as alcohol.
At the centre of that shift is fleet and driver safety provider, AutoSense Australia, which is urging fleets to rethink how they interpret compliance, duty of care and real-world risk.
Biological, Not Behavioural
Katrina Aubrey, Sleep and Respiratory Physiologist Technician at AutoSense, is unequivocal in her assessment.
“Fatigue is comparable to being over the legal limit of intoxication,” Katrina says. “It’s biological. It’s not motivational. It’s not someone choosing to fall asleep, it’s driven by time awake and circadian rhythm.”
According to Aubrey, fatigue is governed by two core physiological drivers: how long a person has been awake and where they sit in their circadian cycle. Experience, willpower and professional pride do not override biology.
“More often than not, we see fatigue events in the first two hours of driving. That tells me straight away that this is about sleep quality,” she says.
That finding challenges the traditional industry focus on hours worked. Many incidents occur early in a shift, suggesting the real risk lies in what happened before the driver ever turned the key.
Fatigue, she explains, is also non-linear. Dehydration, poor nutrition, stress, second jobs and undiagnosed sleep disorders compound risk.
“Fatigue doesn’t shout – it whispers,” Aubrey says.
The Danger of Microsleeps
One of the most concerning aspects of fatigue is the phenomenon of microsleeps — brief, involuntary lapses in attention.
“Microsleeps can last up to 30 seconds where the driver cannot process external information. The eyes can be open, and they’re still effectively asleep,” Aubrey explains.
During that period, a heavy vehicle travelling at highway speeds can cover hundreds of metres uncontrolled.
Compounding the risk is human overconfidence. Research consistently shows drivers are poor judges of their own fatigue.
“Science shows we’re less likely to recognise our own fatigue. That’s the danger,” she says.
The implication is clear: self-assessment is not a sufficient control measure.
Sleep is the Foundation
For Aubrey, effective fatigue management begins long before a vehicle moves.
“You cannot manage fatigue without managing sleep opportunity,” she says.
Seven and a half to eight hours of quality sleep typically provides around 16 hours of safe wakefulness. But being in bed does not guarantee restorative sleep. Sleep apnoea, particularly prevalent among ageing male drivers, is often undiagnosed.
“If you snore, you’ve probably got sleep apnoea. It’s that common,” she says.
Untreated sleep apnoea is linked to cardiovascular disease, mental health disorders and increased crash risk. Cultural attitudes remain a barrier.
“‘She’ll be right mate’ no longer works,” Aubrey says.
Education programs delivered across Australia and New Zealand form a key part of AutoSense’s managed service approach, targeting both drivers and executive leadership.
Compliance Versus Control
For Charles Dawson, CEO of AutoSense Australia, the conversation inevitably turns to Chain of Responsibility (COR).
“A logbook isn’t a fatigue control; it’s an hours-of-work control,” Dawson says.
A driver may be fully compliant yet physiologically impaired.
“You can have a terrible night’s sleep – kids screaming, neighbours partying – and rock up to the depot and legally drive 14 hours. That’s not fatigue management.”
Under Australia’s COR legislation, liability extends up the supply chain, placing pressure on boards and executives to ensure risk is genuinely managed.
“Australia’s Chain of Responsibility legislation has some teeth and claws. People are going to jail. There are big fines,” Dawson says.
Yet he identifies a recurring problem.
“The big risk for boards is the gap between work imagined and work done. Executives may believe systems are compliant, while operational realities tell a different story. Bridging that gap is central to meaningful duty of care.”
Reaction to Prevention
Traditional fatigue detection systems focused on eye closure. Newer technology moves earlier in the risk curve.
AutoSense deploys Guardian Gen 3 in-cab systems incorporating early impairment detection, identifying cognitive lapses before full microsleep occurs.
“Impairment from fatigue is as bad as alcohol impairment – sometimes worse – because the driver doesn’t know it’s happening,” Dawson says.
At certain levels of sleepiness, drivers may experience up to eight cognitive lapses every 10 minutes.
“Half of those lapses happen with eyes open,” he adds.
This advancement enables intervention well before a crash becomes imminent.
“We’re now moving minutes, hours, days – even weeks – ahead of where that crash would have happened.”
Fatigue 5: Data With Accountability
Technology alone, however, is not the solution. AutoSense’s Fatigue 5 program reviews the five highest-risk drivers in a fleet each month, identifying root causes rather than simply logging alerts.
“You can wake a driver up three times a night and feel good about it — but if you haven’t fixed the underlying issue, you haven’t fixed anything,” Dawson says.
The program blends data analysis, sleep education, policy development and advisory support to strengthen COR compliance in practical terms.
Distraction and Shared Attention
Fatigue rarely operates in isolation. Distraction is emerging as a parallel threat.
“With Gen 3 gaze tracking, we’ve moved beyond head position to actually seeing where the eyes are looking,” Dawson says.
Data shows many events involve drivers glancing at company-issued tablets.
“Quite a lot of those events are drivers looking at company-provided tablets. The companies are inadvertently distracting the drivers.”
Even brief glances away from the road reduce hazard perception — particularly when fatigue is already present.
“If you’re not getting good quality sleep, you’re less resilient,” Aubrey says. “You’re more likely to check the phone, more likely to take risks. Fatigue makes people chase little dopamine hits.”
To address this, AutoSense has introduced LifeSaver Mobile in Australia, blocking non-essential phone use while driving.
“Technology should be an enabler,” Dawson says. “It should help protect the driver, not just report on them.”
Commercial and Cultural Impact
Beyond compliance, fatigue management is increasingly recognised as a performance issue. Organisations investing in sleep health, impairment detection and cultural change report stronger retention, improved safety culture and more stable operations.
“Fatigue is predictable. It is manageable. The companies who treat it that way will outperform those that don’t,” Aubrey says.
For Dawson, success is measured not in hardware installations but in partnerships.
“Success for us isn’t being a box dropper. It’s being the trusted adviser when a fleet asks, ‘How do we get our people home safely?’”
In an industry where seconds matter and margins are tight, fatigue management is no longer a back-of-the-mind compliance exercise. It is a strategic, biological and legal reality — and one that Australian transport operators can no longer afford to ignore.
In other news, South Australia is moving towards higher productivity freight trucks.
