Mainfreight Australia is powering up their driver safety efforts with the installation of 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 says 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,” Ashley says. “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 percent[1] reduction in recorded fatigue events.
While Guardian’s driver facing camera monitors fatigue and distraction and prevents fatigue incidents by up to 90 percent[2], 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.”
He says MiTAC[3] technology helps give the full picture thanks to its incident investigation functionality which could exonerate drivers who are not at fault, and although Ashley anticipated potential push back, drivers have welcomed the new technology with open arms.
“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.
“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?”
This unwavering 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.”
Regardless of which side of the Tasman their drivers are on, AutoSense is providing Mainfreight with the very best in world-leading safety solutions – and that’s an investment that is worth its weight in gold.
Adds Ashley, “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?”
Ashley, a New Zealander previously based in Napier, understands the rigours of life on the road.
The former owner-driver has traversed the Napier to Taupo road hundreds of times. “It’s a tough life being a driver. There are many drivers out there, but it’s tough to find good drivers. It’s so important to us as a business to look after our drivers, to ensure they are looked after health-wise and feel fresh when they are working.
“I know the ‘nearly there’ thinking. When a tired driver thinks they only have a bit further up the road to travel before their destination, sadly ‘nearly there’ is when most accidents seem to happen. By harnessing this camera technology, we’re making sure we do not have tired drivers on the road, and that our drivers are ‘always there’.
“We want all drivers to know they can pass a Mainfreight vehicle on the road without hesitation.”
To find out more about this leading edge driver safety technology visit https://www.autosense.co.nz/mitac
[1] In July 2019 Guardian cameras installed in Mainfreight Australia vehicles recorded 15.48 Fatigue events per 10,000km driven. In August 2024, the Guardian cameras installed in Mainfreight Australia vehicles recorded 0.49 Fatigue events per 10,000km driven.
[2] The relative importance of real-time in-cab and external feedback in managing fatigue in real-world commercial transport operations, by Fitzharris, Liu, Stephens, Lenne-2017
[3] Mainfreight Australia has installed the MiTAC K145 with I25 (USB driver facing camera) and K245
Models.
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