Mainfreight Australia has installed nearly 600 MiTAC units from AutoSense in their rigid, local fleet vehicles.
With around 180 Guardian by Seeing Machines cameras already installed in their line haul (interstate) trucks, Mainfreight Australia national support manager Ashley Taylor said adding MiTAC to their arsenal is an obvious next step for their local fleet.
“Fatigue events have dropped significantly since Guardian has been installed and the cameras have also helped with education and changing driver behaviours,” he said.
“We believe the same positive results will be seen with MiTAC once the three-month install is complete and the cameras are all up and recording.”
Since adopting Guardian technology in 2019, Mainfreight AU has reported a 96%] reduction in recorded fatigue events.
While Guardian’s driver facing camera monitors fatigue and distraction and prevents fatigue incidents by up to 90%], MiTAC is the perfect complement to Guardian, with a front facing camera to monitor the road ahead as well as the driver facing camera with an advantage of recording footage in real time. It can also detect potential safety issues, like distracted driving and aggressive behaviour, allowing fleet managers to take corrective action to prevent accidents and improve driver safety.
“It will be a fantastic solution for our drivers. Our local fleet is growing significantly and this means we get complaints from the public from time to time. But there are three sides to every road incident: the driver’s perception, the public perception, and what actually happened,” Taylor said.
He said MiTAC technology helps give the full picture thanks to its incident investigation functionality which could exonerate drivers who are not at fault..
“The team has been receptive, which is fantastic. Some of our drivers have even asked us if they can be first for the installation because they’ve previously been involved in an incident where they were not at fault and can see the value of MiTAC cameras in proving their case,” Taylor said.
“Our drivers are professional people – driving is their career and their livelihood. When an event has happened, we pull the Guardian camera footage and four out of five times our drivers are not at fault. But importantly, we learn from the event by asking ourselves how the accident happened and how can we prevent it from happening again?”
Taylor said a commitment to driver and road safety is Mainfreight’s motivating force, and that makes AutoSense, with its portfolio of advanced and industry-leading driver monitoring technology on offer, an ideal partner.
“We collaborate with the New Zealand team regularly on health and safety when it comes to our drivers, and share knowledge inside the business. Australian legislation is tough, we have a responsibility to all play a part in stepping up for the safety of our people and those they share the road with.
“Our business is dedicated to improving the safety standards across the industry. We are always asking ourselves what can we do better to help our drivers be safer, how can we make their job safer, and how can we make the roads safer for all other road users?”
“Every morning I review the monitoring from the previous night’s driving; we ask – did we take the right actions, what can we do to improve our work?
“We want all drivers to know they can pass a Mainfreight vehicle on the road without hesitation.”
