Page 11 - CTB N16 - 2016-04

NEWS
TomTom Telematics and Continental Join Forces for Enhanced Transportation Compliance Solution
Government Legislation for Ageing Tyres Gathers Momentum
CommercialTyre
Management
and Fleet Business
TomTom Telematics and Continental have announced a collaboration to create a more efficient data archiving solution for HGVs. The alliance will enable users to remotely transfer data from the
truck
“Capturing and analysing tachograph data in a timely and effective way has always been a challenge for large vehicle fleet owners, often creating additional expense such as time and even fines,” said Thomas Schmidt, Managing Director at TomTom Telematics. “By connecting
trucks directly with the back office we are helping to
build better connected businesses that are in control of their data
and can achieve more and reach their goals easier, faster and
more efficiently.” Dr. Lutz Scholten,
head of tachographs, telematics and service
at Continental added: “The cooperation is
another step in strengthening the
compliance domain in Continental’s fleet management solutions, which amongst others also encompass driver, vehicles, logistics and trailer solutions.” TIS-Web customers who have already installed TomTom WEBFLEET will further benefit as they can now merge the two solutions into a single customer- friendly solution.
The new app – WEBFLEET TacoShare TIS-Web Connect – will be available to customers from October 2016, initially in the DACH region with other regions in Europe to follow.
Pricing for the extra services will be from €4.90/vehicle/month for the standard integration and from €8.90/vehicle/month with the addition of TomTom Telematics Remaining Driving Time functionality. This will be in addition to the existing cost of WEBFLEET and TIS-Web accounts.
For the past four years, since the death of her 18-year-old son Michael in the Bestival coach crash of September 2012, Frances Molloy has been tirelessly campaigning for Government legislation to be passed on the condition and age of tyres.
The coach that Michael was travelling in, was owned by Liverpool based Merseypride. The vehicle suffered a catastrophic blow-out of the front nearside tyre. A subsequent inquest into Michael's plus young student Kerry Ogden’s and driver Colin Daulby’s deaths revealed that the accident was preventable as the exploding tyre was found to be secondhand and nineteen and a half years old. Frances says, “To lose a child whatever the circumstances is a tragic life-changing experience, but to learn that a
tyre that should
not have been
fitted to the coach
caused the fatal
crash is an
immense insult to
human life. In fact,
the coach had
multiple failings
with a spare tyre
being thirteen and
a half years old,
whilst the other
three tyres were
older than ten
years, and there is
no way I will ever
accept the
Coroners verdict of
'Accidental Death'.”
Over the past four years, Frances has been behind a determined campaign to not only get a ban on part-worn tyres, but also determine a legal age limit that a tyre can be fitted to any vehicle. In 2014, she was a guest speaker at the Tyrexpo UK Show, which proved to be a launch pad to take her campaign to the next level. The campaign has been backed by the NTDA and the TyreSafe organisation Legislation Against Dangerous Tyres (LADT) and also has the total support of local Liverpool Walton MP –
Steve Rotherham. Rotherhams’s help and experience have helped to create and present Legislation Bill 77 to Introduce limits on the age of tyres on buses and coaches. In essence, Frances is demanding that tyre age joins tread depth and external condition as part of an annual vehicle check.
Frances met the current Transport Secretary – Mr Patrick Mcloughlin in 2013, who put out general guidance to all operators recommending that tyres over ten years old should not be fitted to the front axles. However, due to a lack of response, Bill 77 was introduced and received its second reading in the Houses of Parliament later in the year. Unfortunately, the impact was not as successful as was initially expected, and Steve Rotherham is now pushing hard
Frances Molloy
Continental and TomTom Telematics have partnered up to give fleet managers greater control over
their digital tachograph data
to the back office without having to return the vehicles to the depot or head office.
The new integration links TomTom WEBFLEET with TIS- Web, part of Continental’s VDO brand. Fleet managers using the new solution will have greater control over their digital tachograph data. Automated
downloading of tachograph data from fleet vehicles, as well as automated uploading of tachograph data to TIS-Web, can ease the burden of compliance with applicable legislation. As TIS-Web also analyses and assesses the tachograph data, helping increase fleet efficiency by enabling fleet managers to reduce unwanted interruptions.
for another meeting with the new Transport Secretary – Chris Grayling.
Frances adds, “I am absolutely determined to get this Bill through Parliament to ensure nobody else is killed on a coach by an ageing dangerous tyre.” The NTDA has also added additional weight to the campaign by announcing the launch of an even more aggressive total ban on part-worn tyres at their recent conference in Birmingham.
Commercial Tyre Business 11