Sounds Heavy

At the beginning of last year, Geotab announced a partnership with leading Australian Electronic Work Diary (EWD) and fatigue compliance management systems provider, Logmaster.

The agreement, a major milestone for Geotab’s investment cycle in the Australian market, promised the creation of a complete telematics and EWD solution for Australian fleet and transport companies.

Geotab is a relative newcomer to the local heavy vehicle industry – opening up shop in Australia in 2017 – but it has the resources to bring the right solution to the market.

Now, it’s about packaging it up in a way which is attractive to the customer.

“We really want to understand the market, listen to the voice of the customer, find out what their ideal world looks like, and then bring in a solution to achieve it,” says Geotab APAC Associate Vice President Sales, David Brown.

“We can tick the boxes today. We can absolutely do that. But how do we get better? How do we add more value to the customer, and how do we make it easier to get the data and make decisions?”

Geotab’s collaboration with Logmaster is a major step forward for heavy vehicle businesses. The plan is for Geotab to integrate its own application into the Logmaster EWD in the near future.

This is part of a wider push by Geotab to make inroads into the heavy truck space in Australia.

“Our plan is really heavily dedicated to heavy trucks — really understanding what the customer wants to see and to line our product solution around what they want,” David says.

“Towards the end of the year, we’re bringing on another heavy truck team as well to work internally, to start to progress in the heavy truck space.”

In terms of advancements in the Logmaster solution, though, the message both companies want to get out is how simple the collaborative EWD solution will be to use and the benefits it can bring to both drivers and businesses as a whole.

David says it’s currently quite complex to manage drivers’ logbooks in each state because they all have different rulesets and fatigue management laws. The Logmaster and Geotab solution, however, will eliminate this.

“The fact that the logbook will be relevant to each state is extremely important,” David says.

“It will also give our customers the choice of how they want to have access to the application, whether it’s on ruggedised tablets, bring your own devices [BYODs], or on the driver’s phone. So, we look to make it a simple to use, easy to navigate, and a cost-effective application for our customers, to give them the power of choice.”

One advantage of using EWDs, David says, is a reduced risk of logbook errors, which can lead to fines for businesses.

The system helps prevent breaches with break alerts, where audible notifications can be given to a driver to let them know when they’re set to take their rest break and in advance so that they can properly plan it. EWDs also allow drivers to edit work and rest breaks before actually submitting them.

For instance, if there is a delay in taking a break, operators can automatically override their own notes to justify the situation while still keeping the original notes on file.

Once EWDs become mandatory in Australia, David says, the Geotab and Logmaster solution will simplify compliance, while providing benefits to businesses.

“For heavy trucks, it’s the complex solution which provides a lot of different things,” he says.

“As a truck owner, you would look to see where the truck is, how the truck is performing, what the fuel efficiency is like.

“Our job at Geotab is to make things as easy as possible for the customer but also to provide the customer with a return on the investment that they’re putting in. With our Logmaster partnership we give the customer a holistic solution.”

Geotab maintains partnerships that enable additional solutions. Many different companies and organisations fall under the Geotab umbrella, covering tyre pressure monitoring systems, camera solutions, and of course, logbooks through Logmaster to ensure compliance with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR).

David says Geotab wants to be the preferred choice for heavy vehicle businesses, and it will rely heavily on user feedback to improve its products and services.

“At Geotab, we want to be better at it than anybody else right now,” he says.

“How we can do that all depends on the voice of the customer and the user experience of the customer. At the moment, we are doing a lot of research and meetings with clients, customers and the industry to understand what they have now, but also what they would like in the future. Logmaster, having that experience over many years in EWDs, is critical for us to understand what gaps are currently there.”

Going forward, Geotab will invest time, energy, and resources into the Australian marketplace to achieve this. “We’re looking to expand our connection base and customer base in the region,” David says.

“Our plan is focused on heavy trucks ­­— really understanding what the customer wants to see and to align our product solution around what they want.

“We’re constantly looking several years ahead. We’re investing in the Australian marketplace, we’re investing in resources, and we’re getting industry experts in heavy trucks but also in other industries too.”