IN FOCUS
GO WEST
GO WEST NEW BUS FLEET MANAGEMENT
West Australian bus operator Go West Tours has implemented ‘next generation fleet management technology’ to fine-tune operations, with a successful rollout and adaptation by its drivers, the company reports.
Below: Drivers have reacted positively to the system, using it to share safety information such as the state of roads Opposite: “We found when the platform was successfully adopted it allowed people to explore other capabilities beyond the fundamental functionalities of GPS tracking, speed control and driver fatigue management,” said Go West director David Haoust.
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s a key part of its growth strategy, Go West Tours – a WA supplier of charter, rental and tour vehicles, servicing the mining, education, tourism and government sectors as well as private parties – seeks to ensure it continues to offer the latest technology systems to clients to track and manage vehicle speed, driver fatigue, maintenance and safety, it states. Go West engaged Teletrac Navman to develop a bespoke solution with the broad range of capability it required, it explains. According to the company, Teletrac Navman’s solution specialists worked closely with Go West to create a tailor-made system, including passenger scanning, fatigue management, geo-fencing, speed management, GPS vehicle tracking and electronic document management.
The custom solution provided comprehensive data harvesting and analysis, so the business could track each trip electronically and improve reporting accuracy, it explains. “Managing complex change is often challenging and has to be done in a careful manner, but we found the Teletrac Navman platform was really easy to use, which helped us get buy-in from staff,” said Go West Tours director David Haoust. “We found when the platform was successfully adopted, it allowed people to explore other capabilities beyond the fundamental functionalities of GPS tracking, speed control and driver fatigue management.”
CULTURAL CHANGE Go West Tours implemented Teletrac Navman’s comprehensive suite of telematics solutions in more than 100 of its buses, equipping 50 of those with the end-to-end telematics solution in two months, it states. A key part of the solution is an in-vehicle compliance and productivity tool, alongside telematics that provides GPS tracking capabilities, speed management and card reading technology, says Teletrac. With electronic pre-start capabilities and a new digital process to manage documentation, such as risk assessments, the business streamlined complex compliance requirements while ensuring safety and easy measurability, it explains. Teletrac Navman understood the sensitivities of the cultural change
required to get the drivers on board with the new processes and platforms, it adds. The team hosted a series of ‘onboarding’ sessions for the staff at Go West Tours, so they could quickly and effectively adopt the new technology, it confirms. This change also had to coincide with the acquisition of 50 new 50-seater buses being rolled out during two months across five different mining sites, the companies state. Tablet-style data importing, work diary logging and electronic pre-starts were new to bus drivers, but training and the user-friendly nature of Teletrac Navman’s product suite helped Go West achieve the all-important acceptance from drivers while meeting the implementation deadline, it says.
THE UPSHOT Offering Go West improved control over its business, the technology
ABC January 2021 busnews.com.au
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