Today tachograph analysis software has become a commodity available from a number of suppliers. With little real product differentiation between suppliers and competitive pricing from all how do you choose one supplier over another? Time to look beyond the core product offering and consider a number of important factors.

1. Type of system - An internet-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution generally involves lower cost and has a whole host of advantages over an in-house, installed software solutions. For example it’s suitable for all sizes of operators and scalable, being able to accommodate growth or a reduction in drivers and vehicles. It’s accessible anytime, anyplace you have an internet connection. It’s always up to date, with no need to manage updates or back-ups and no special hardware requirements. Any SaaS-based tachograph analysis solution should cover the download of analogue and digital tachograph data, analysis and reporting of infringements. It should also provide tools and KPIs to manage drivers and minimise infringements. More recently SmartAlerts and KPIs for DVSA’s Earned Recognition have been added to ensure compliance.
2. The supplier – What do you know about the supplier? Are they privately owned? Do you have visibility of who the shareholders are and the financial position of the company? Do you have confidence they’ll still be around in 5 years? By choosing a publicly listed business, you can make a more informed decision. After all, dealing with a private company with two shareholders is quite a different proposition to dealing with a profitable, global, publicly listed company that can demonstrate its financial performance over ten years or more.
3. The products – Did the supplier develop the product themselves? Working with the company that created the software means that support teams have direct access to developers to resolve any issues swiftly. A supplier with a portfolio of compliance management solutions for tachograph analysis, licence checks and driver vehicle safety checks can provide a complete picture of compliance by driver, vehicle or depot in one system with one login and password. What other fleet management solutions are available? Big operational gains can be made from routing and scheduling software, telematics and mobile applications (ePoD).
4. Information security – Data privacy is a growing concern as the threat of cyber-attacks and pressures of GDPR responsibilities increase. Is the supplier ISO27001 accredited? Is access to the various compliance management modules controlled through unique usernames and passwords for different roles within the organisation? Does the supplier meet standards to protect the confidentiality of data, preserve the integrity of data and promote the availability of data for authorised use?

By considering all these factors, rather than small differences between compliance management software solutions and saving a penny per tachograph record, not only can your compliance management be optimised but there’s an opportunity to integrate this with route optimisation and scheduling solutions. This brings fleet utilisation in line with drivers’ hours regulations, so drivers are no longer faced with the impossible choice of missing a delivery or breaching drivers’ hours. Operators can leverage greater benefits this way, such as an increase in delivery capacity by as much as 35%, so there are big gains to be made. Descartes prides itself on meeting these considerations to offer efficient and comprehensive solutions, with in-house development available to match with needs, and unrivalled support systems. For more information see https://smartcompliance.descartes.com/ and https://routinguk.descartes.com/.