As a road transport operator, the current situation with COVID-19 and restrictions with social distancing present significant challenges. Some operators will be experiencing a slowdown in business whilst others in food, pharmaceuticals and other in-demand products may be experiencing massive unexpected peaks in demand and struggle to meet customer expectations. Whatever the challenges operators need to ensure that their drivers and vehicles remain safe and compliant. What practical steps can help? Get 15 months tachograph analysis and reporting for the price of 12 To help operators that may be experiencing a slow down under the current restrictions but still need to maintain a compliant business, anyone subscribing to SmartAnalysis Pre-pay will get 3 months added to their subscription period for free. SmartAnalysis Pre-pay is already the most cost-effective and simplest way to download your tachograph data, get it analysed and have reports on drivers’ hours and tachograph data made available. Getting 15 months for the price of 12 makes this an even more compelling proposition. You can take advantage of this at 3 months free with SmartAnalysis Pre-pay. Take a tachograph analysis payment holiday with Pay-As-You-Go Larger fleets with more than 10 vehicles can sign-up to SmartAnalysis on a Pay-As-You-Go scheme where you are invoiced 25p per driver per working day monthly in arears. This means if your drivers are not working you don’t pay. This will reduce the costs for larger fleets that are seeing a slow down in business but will ensure that they remain compliant with the requirements to download and analyse their tachograph data. You can sign-up to SmartAnalysis on PAYG at SmartAnalysis PAYG. Regardless of your payment choice (Pre-pay or PAYG) as a SmartAnalysis customer you will be able to be make ‘FURLOUGH’ calendar entries with the ability to enter 0 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours or custom for WTD compliance. Maintain social distancing in downloading tachograph and driver card data Drivers are required to download their driver card data at least every 28 days and vehicle unit data must be downloaded every 90 days. There are very good reasons for doing these activities on a daily or weekly basis so that any potential issues are identified and can be dealt with before they become a problem with the DVSA such as unaccounted mileage. However, how can you get drivers to download their data and download VU data and eliminate potential contact? The answer is automatic remote download of tachograph and driver card data using installed remote download or telematics devices. Automatic remote download can save 20-30 minutes per vehicle per week downloading VU data and eliminate the burden of getting your drivers to come to the depot or office to download their driver card data. You can purchase the remote download devices and take advantage of free and fast delivery in our online shop at SmartDownload - automatic remote download. If you would like to use your installed telematics device to send your tachograph data to SmartAnalysis contact servicedesk@descartes.com. Eliminate paper and physical contact with vehicle safety checks Whilst the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has suspended MOTs for all heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and public service vehicles (PSVs) for up to three months from Friday March 2020, vehicles will need to be maintained, kept roadworthy and operate within the terms of the operators’ licence. An essential part of this is driver vehicle safety checks. It has been reported that 85% of roadside prohibitions could have been avoided if an effective vehicle safety check had taken place before the driver set off. Many operators still rely on paper-based checks which need to be handed in to the depot. A mobile vehicle safety check app gives the operator assurance that the check actually took place as it records the time, duration and location of checks. Safety issues are captured in a timely fashion and no physical contact is required. Get a quote for your fleet at Get started with SmartCheck - driver vehicle safety check app.