New software that matches data from tachographs to computerised transport planning software will help transport operators fight the recession by reducing costs. The interface between the Tachomaster tachograph analysis software and Paragon routing and scheduling software is the result of a partnership between two of the transport industry’s leading innovators: Paragon Software Systems and Road Tech Computer Systems.
The interface will enable accurate tachograph information about recorded drivers’ hours to be imported directly into the Paragon software. Tachomaster records Working Time Directive (WTD) data for each driver and the Paragon software uses this information to smooth out driver workloads. This will help to ensure compliance with driver hours regulations, maximise overall driver productivity and reduce costs.
Resource management functionality within Paragon Route Execution is used to maintain information about planned driver shifts and fleet availability at individual driver and vehicle level. This information is fed to the Paragon routing and scheduling software to generate the route schedules. Planned schedules are then matched to actual fleet availability and the individual shifts intended to be worked by each driver on that day.
Companies using Tachomaster to capture their analogue or digital tachograph data can then use the new interface to store the actual drivers’ hours worked in Paragon Route Execution. Paragon evaluates each driver’s WTD statistics and uses this in its planning process to ensure even and legal workloads for drivers. Drivers with a high average are automatically allocated the shorter runs, whereas drivers that have fallen behind are given longer runs. This helps ensure drivers adhere to regulations and also gives transport managers the ability to better manage drivers’ workloads during peak periods.
In addition, for companies using Paragon’s Route Execution application, vehicle tracking histories will be accessible for free through the Tachomaster screens, enabling users to see vehicle trails where a violation or unexpected break occurred.
“It is often hard for transport operators to match driver resources with changing transport plans and now more than ever operators need to cut wastage by streamlining their operations. Accurate tachograph data from Tachomaster will add a vital new dimension to Paragon’s routing and scheduling software, allowing unnecessary driver costs to be significantly reduced by automatically levelling driver workloads,” says William Salter, Managing Director of Paragon Software Systems.
