On the evidence of a series of announcements in the last few weeks, it would seem that EWDs are like buses, you wait around for what seems like years for one to come along and then four come one after the other. This month another two electronic work diaries have popped their heads above the parapet and are due to be fully approved.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas the first two EWDs were announced. First there was Step Global, a family owned and operated business based out of Melbourne which has developed the Smart eDriver platform completely in house. It is 100 per cent Australian owned, operated, developed and supported. Since 2009, the operation has grown both its product offering as well providing engineering know-how in the application of those products.
Teletrac Navman introduced its EWD solution, Sentinel, creating a comprehensive EWD solution that meets the real day-to-day needs of transport operators, administrators and drivers. Sentinel is already being used by over 40,000 drivers across Australia, and Teletrac Navman says that these customers will be able to move to the new NHVR-approved solution at no additional cost.
Later in December, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator announced the impending approval of Netstar’s Garmin Fleet 7XX Series as of January 11 2021.
The Netstar product will be followed into approval one week later by MTData’s Electronic Work Diary (EWD). MTData’s Talon and Swift system, can be run on either a Samsung Galaxy Active Tab or Samsung Galaxy Active Tab 2. Drivers can record their work and rest hours by pressing a button on the Talon driver screen instead of manually calculating various time periods on multiple sheets of paper, saving time for both drivers and administration staff.
With four arriving so close together, we can speculate as to the timing of these announcements, which have come after a long period of to and fro between the NHVR and telematics developers. The sudden rush of devices could be a coincidence, or the result of a change in the way the approval process is being undertaken.