Telematics in national review

The National Transport Commission (NTC) will review the use of telematics for regulatory purposes across the transport sector in order to find ways to encourage further uptake and realise safety and productivity benefits.

NTC Chief Executive Paul Retter said that the Transport and Infrastructure Senior Officials’ Committee (TISOC) has directed the NTC to consult with transport operators, telematics service providers, road agencies, and government certification agencies to help identify opportunities to more effectively harness the benefits of emerging technology solutions.

“Telematics can boost productivity and safety by making it easier to share more accurate data between vehicles, drivers, operators and third parties,” said Retter.

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“We are already seeing telematics technology being used by operators for commercial and internal compliance purposes in the freight sector.

“While telematics technology is also being used for regulatory purposes, such as allowing vehicles with higher mass limits to gain additional network access, the level of uptake is not as strong as it could be.

“This review will help us to better understand why this is and how we may be able to improve uptake using current systems at a minimum cost to operators,” he said.

The focus will be on telematics regulated by the Heavy Vehicle National Law, including the Intelligent Access Program and the Electronic Work Diary.

The NTC will reportedly submit a report to TISOC during March 2018.