Scania telemetry & tracking.

Scania telemetry & tracking.

Author
Discussion

Plastic chicken

Original Poster:

380 posts

204 months

Thursday 15th May 2014
quotequote all
I've just been informed by my boss that our Scania vehicles were fitted with tracking systems when new a couple of years ago, and that these have now been activated, so that drivers' positions to within a few yards are visible at base. We have no choice other than just to live with it.

Scania also incorporates a telemetry which sends all sorts of data back to base, further eroding any 'freedom' drivers might have thought they had. I'm even told it can relay back if the driver is wearing his seatbelt or not....

Anybody know any more about this system, and what are your experiences?

theshrew

6,008 posts

184 months

Thursday 15th May 2014
quotequote all
Ive no idea what system Scania fit but I have been in a meeting about this type of thing. The company who came to sell it to us ( cant remember who it was ) showed me how the system works.

My first thought about the system was - The drivers are going to be fked. Anyway here's what I can remember about it.

Firstly your man in the office can see where all the fleet is on a map this updated every 30 sec or something and was pretty pin point. Fair enough I suppose.

The company made a big sell on the following which I thought was the real bad part for drivers. The vehicle is fitted with a black box. Imagine a box with a marble in it, when you brake hard the marble would shoot to the front of the box hard and fast. Same as if you got on the gas hard or had a sudden steering input the marble would move in whatever direction hard and fast.

The box has a traffic light system green your driving fine, amber a bit dodgy and red your a animal. This was measured using the marble and box type set up and recorded. So if you slammed on the brakes you will get 1 counter in the red for fairly hard in the amber etc. Each time the vehicle is in a amber or red situation it records it, time and date everything.

I saw the files of a company who were already using the system. They used it for a month then showed the results to the drivers explained how it worked etc. Then after another month the difference in the driving std ( according to the box ) was huge, the drivers were a lot smoother. Which in turn passed on a big saving to the company in fuel bills + I guess you can factor in wear on the vehicle to. After a few months the company then started to use the system to bk and i think sack drivers !

My argument was that although this system can smooth out driving the system doesn't know if the driver had to brake hard or swerve for a genuine reason and would still count against the driver - bit harsh in my eyes. It can also do fuel consumption and the normal stuff you would expect.

These systems are and will become a lot more popular over the next few years so its something you drivers should keep a eye out for.












anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 16th May 2014
quotequote all
theshrew said:
Ive no idea what system Scania fit but I have been in a meeting about this type of thing. The company who came to sell it to us ( cant remember who it was ) showed me how the system works.

My first thought about the system was - The drivers are going to be fked. Anyway here's what I can remember about it.

Firstly your man in the office can see where all the fleet is on a map this updated every 30 sec or something and was pretty pin point. Fair enough I suppose.

The company made a big sell on the following which I thought was the real bad part for drivers. The vehicle is fitted with a black box. Imagine a box with a marble in it, when you brake hard the marble would shoot to the front of the box hard and fast. Same as if you got on the gas hard or had a sudden steering input the marble would move in whatever direction hard and fast.

The box has a traffic light system green your driving fine, amber a bit dodgy and red your a animal. This was measured using the marble and box type set up and recorded. So if you slammed on the brakes you will get 1 counter in the red for fairly hard in the amber etc. Each time the vehicle is in a amber or red situation it records it, time and date everything.

I saw the files of a company who were already using the system. They used it for a month then showed the results to the drivers explained how it worked etc. Then after another month the difference in the driving std ( according to the box ) was huge, the drivers were a lot smoother. Which in turn passed on a big saving to the company in fuel bills + I guess you can factor in wear on the vehicle to. After a few months the company then started to use the system to bk and i think sack drivers !

My argument was that although this system can smooth out driving the system doesn't know if the driver had to brake hard or swerve for a genuine reason and would still count against the driver - bit harsh in my eyes. It can also do fuel consumption and the normal stuff you would expect.

These systems are and will become a lot more popular over the next few years so its something you drivers should keep a eye out for.
Don't see much wrong with it to be honest. The odd 'red' wouldn't be too bad, if it's happening all the time, then that guy shouldn't be on the road.

Getragdogleg

8,768 posts

183 months

Friday 16th May 2014
quotequote all
As an Operator I would love this system, as a driver I would hate it.

I recently took over driving the little van, a Nissan Cabstar, when I got it it was averaging 21.2 mpg, now I have had it a while its averaging 33.8 mpg. Quite a difference. It got me thinking about how I could try and get the other drivers to be less heavy on the right foot !

ETA, just worked it out and its roughly 180 miles extra per tank full. That is very mean man maths so not accurate but I am surprised.

80 litre tank, filled to the brim each fill.

Edited by Getragdogleg on Friday 16th May 19:44

gus607

917 posts

136 months

Saturday 17th May 2014
quotequote all
We have a similar system on our trucks. Use it to your advantage, don't race around & make sure you have your correct rest brakes. Drive by the book all the time. If you are held up anywhere, then tough.

Jimbo.

3,948 posts

189 months

Tuesday 20th May 2014
quotequote all
Plastic chicken said:
I've just been informed by my boss that our Scania vehicles were fitted with tracking systems when new a couple of years ago, and that these have now been activated, so that drivers' positions to within a few yards are visible at base. We have no choice other than just to live with it.

Scania also incorporates a telemetry which sends all sorts of data back to base, further eroding any 'freedom' drivers might have thought they had. I'm even told it can relay back if the driver is wearing his seatbelt or not....

Anybody know any more about this system, and what are your experiences?
Vehicle tracking is nothing new. At my old place we knew the location, speed, assigned driver etc, etc, and also things like fridge temperatures, door-open alarms etc, etc.
Systems like this help with everything from on-the-fly route planning, load security, piss-taking drivers hanging jobs out etc, etc...

Magictrousers

268 posts

174 months

Saturday 24th May 2014
quotequote all
Getragdogleg said:
As an Operator I would love this system, as a driver I would hate it.

I recently took over driving the little van, a Nissan Cabstar, when I got it it was averaging 21.2 mpg, now I have had it a while its averaging 33.8 mpg. Quite a difference. It got me thinking about how I could try and get the other drivers to be less heavy on the right foot !

ETA, just worked it out and its roughly 180 miles extra per tank full. That is very mean man maths so not accurate but I am surprised.

80 litre tank, filled to the brim each fill.

Edited by Getragdogleg on Friday 16th May 19:44
How to get the drivers to be less heavy on fuel? Lay it down in brass tacks. Offer them an incentive, say 25% of any sustained fuel saving, goes into their wage packet.

As said elsewhere, there will be a back door saving in wear and tear too.

GEARJAMMER

445 posts

139 months

Monday 26th May 2014
quotequote all
I couldn't really give a monkies about the fuel, we have a fuel bonus system at are place, basically the higher your MPG (although everything is worked out in Kilometres) the higher the fuel bonus, its worked out quarterly.

We used the Scanias onboard computer to moniter are driving and MPG and used to get some good fuel bonuses, trouble is we got that good that the boss moved the goal posts, he said the computer wasn't accurate and started working out the figures for himself, he also said if we didn't average 2500 kilometres each week he would deduct X amount from the fuel bonus.

Needless to say my bonuses and others have gone downhill, so now I couldn't give a monkies, the truck uses whatever it uses.


Also another thing I find comical (you need to drive a Scania to understand this) the driving score you get on the computer dash, it gives you a score whenever you brake, accelerate etc.... ive noticed when on cruise control when you (or should I say it?) go over the brow of a hill it marks you down for not releasing the throttle..... yet hang on, when the cruise control is set, is it not driving itself, so why is it marking my driving down?

Stupid Swedish pile of junk!

theshrew

6,008 posts

184 months

Tuesday 27th May 2014
quotequote all
MPG will change a lot from vehicle to vehicle anyway even with the same driver.

A lot depends on the timing of the engine. We have done some tests and the difference is crazy even if its a tiny bit out.


Plastic chicken

Original Poster:

380 posts

204 months

Friday 30th May 2014
quotequote all
GEARJAMMER said:
the driving score you get on the computer dash, it gives you a score whenever you brake, accelerate etc
Stupid Swedish pile of junk!
Yeah, I've noticed that about the driving score: braking, I achieve 89%, keeping the revs in the green, 92%; however, no matter how hard I try, cruise on or off, I can never get the 'hill' score above 55%. And that brings the average of the three scores right down...