Filipino-Australian IT professionals Ronald Bolante and Manny Diaz came up with the idea when they attended a hackathon event in Canberra last year. They learned that the common pain point for Australian truck drivers is the delays and waiting times for their cargos to be loaded and unloaded.
Mr Diaz said that truck drivers are subjected to long waits and queues causing them fatigue and stress. In turn, they tend to hurry up and break road rules.
Seeing that the problem has existed for a long time with no solution at hand, both Bolante and Diaz from Bicol region, Philippines decided to take action.
“This is what prompted Ronald Bolante and myself to pursue the project despite the many odds and challenges. After all, if it can save the life or limb of at least one person, then the project is worth every bit. Being able to keep Australian roads safe is a fitting contribution and a way to give back to the community,” says Mr Diaz.
Bolante and Diaz at the 2018 Technology and Maintenance Conference in Melbourne where they presented the Wait Advisor project to the trucking industry. Source: Manny Diaz
The Wait Advisor App
The Wait Advisor app is a road safety project which aims to help reduce fatigue-related crashes involving heavy vehicles.
According to Mr Diaz, much of the existing solutions to fatigue focus on detection and avoidance; from mandated rest periods and ergonomic beds to lane departure and warning at the onset of fatigue symptoms. But he adds fatigue is a complex issue which requires a more comprehensive approach than what current technology solutions cover.
He says that an area gone unnoticed in addressing the fatigue issue is that of delays and periods when the driver waits while trucks are being loaded or unloaded, or queued up to be loaded or unloaded.
“The problem has existed for a very long time and it seems like no one wants to fix it. For instance in fatigue management, as truckers would probably agree, there are a lot of regulations in terms of sleeping cycles, load and others but no one is looking at the delay and the wait the truckers are subjected to in a leg. Sometimes, they come in for work ready to drive turns out they have to wait for the cargo to be loaded then when they reach the destination they would wait in queue for the cargo to be unloaded which impacts them. The delays that are happening cause stress, fatigue, and a disincentive to the driver,” he says.
By activating the Wait Advisor app, volunteer informants can send information on where, when and how long delays occur. Source: Manny Diaz
How the app works
According to Mr Diaz, the Wait Advisor project starts out as a data collection tool for crowd-sourced information, where truck drivers volunteer to provide information on delays. By activating the Wait Advisor app, volunteer informants can send information on where, when and how long delays occur. Data is aggregated to prevent an informant from being identified.
"When a truck is stuck in a queue, the truck driver can quickly activate the app. When the wait is over, the app is deactivated. If they forget to turn it off, it will detect that they are already in driving speed and it will automatically turn off,” says Mr Diaz.
The information provided from the downloadable app can be used by trip planners to plan their routes more efficiently and will also inform businesses of the delays.
"Data collected using the Wait Advisor app will be used to provide actionable insights for stakeholders in the logistics and trucking sector," adds Mr Diaz.
Police have told NSW drivers to slow down with 25 pedestrians already dead on state roads in 2019. (AAP) Source: AAP
Safer Australian roads
A study conducted by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne has revealed that truck drivers are at the highest risk of dying on the job compared with workers on other jobs throughout the country.
Statistics indicated that across Australia each year, there are at least 210 deaths and 1700 non-fatal injuries due to accidents involving heavy vehicles.
According to Mr Diaz, although there are road safety improvements in the last couple of years, the problem is persistent.
"As we know truck crashes are overrepresented in statistics even though there are a lot of safety improvements that have been done through the years, we're wondering why no one is interested in looking at it when the very people who are suffering from it are very vocal and it’s a problem that is impacting them."
The duo hopes that the said project will help reduce road injuries and deaths, if not totally eliminate, fatigue-related crashes.
“We are expecting and hoping [that it will help lessen road accidents in Australia] and we are also working with an academic who is doing research on this line of inquiry. We’re approaching the problem at different angles; one is providing technology solutions at the points where there are delays. For instance, a queue management system which will redirect a truck to a suitable rest stop or parking area instead of queueing up at a site without losing their position in the queue. Second, looking at the evidence basis and having research people validating what we are saying,” says Mr Diaz.
The pair will relaunch the app sometime in August with the support of the Australian Trucking Association and they are hopeful that an awareness of the free app will be widely used in order for them to continue with the project.
“There is no financial gain expected of it, we are working on a model that if this effort would save at least one person’s life then we are willing to pursue it."
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