Volvo's Dynafleet...Anyone had experience of using it?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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They’ve just taken delivery of the first 20 new Volvos at our place and they have Dynafleet fitted. For those who haven’t heard of this system, CLICK HERE.

Now, I know that’s it’s inevitable with any of these sytems that there’ll be drivers who start whinging about being “spied on” etc. etc., but personally I’m really pro. I’m keeping my beloved Stralis for the time being, but apparently the Dynafleet will eventually roll out across the fleet, so I still have an interest here.

A few things to bear in mind:

First off, I work for a firm who, once you’ve proved you don’t need “babysitting”, don’t contact you unless they have to. It’s perfectly possible for even a relatively junior driver like me to not speak to anyone for a couple of days, I just get work sent to me by text message and they assume I’m getting on with it unless I call with a problem. So there’s no question of this being a method by which to harass drivers - if anything it’ll mean we speak even less.

The office are under a MASSIVE amount of stress and are constantly snowed under. We’re paid by the mile and are all the kind of drivers who want to be run as efficiently as possible, because that way we make the most money possible in the least number of hours. No-one’s going to be getting “done” for hanging the bag out, in other words.

We have literally hundreds of jobs, and even people who have been on the company 20+ years haven’t done them all and never will. The navigation function has got to be a good thing.

As a woman out on my own, I like the idea of, and have actively wanted a tracker for many years. In this climate of increasing truck crime, there has to be an advantage to be gained in having someone knowing where you are. The motivation for this fitment is, according to our Fleet Engineer, to lower insurance costs.

So…Who’s actually used telematics like this, how has it worked out, what are the downsides, and what do you think■■?

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Never had a problem with Dynafleet.

It allows you to look at your own performance (if you’re interested) and try and drive more efficiently (if you have the incentive to).

I like being able to see how much driving I have done at a glance on the screen - particularly mindblowing facility before the days of digital tachos.

Overall, it is more a management tool than a driver tool, however. It allows them to also monitor performance (if they’re interested), see where you are, for how long, how much fuel you’ve used, engine idle time and so on.

Have a look at the software on the PC your office are running Dynafleet on. Some of the stuff they can see is amazing.

Yes, it is a bit of a ‘spy in the cab’, but only those that skive, mess about and hang the job out need to be worried.

It also works both ways. When your traffic operator wants to give you a job that is going to take four hours to do, and you’ve only go two hours left out of a fifteen, they won’t even bother to ring and utter those words - ‘Can you just…?’

I heard a rumour that our new Volvos won’t even have phones in them - we will communicate with the office via the email facility. I can’t wait!!

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lucy , the system that innovate uses all the info goes via sweden , and can take up to two days for volvo to prosess ,all the 06 and 56 trucks use a seprate card for it to work , the 07 and 57 trucks use the digi tacho card ( ref the db card no not your licence ) , the trackers work by mobile and are not gps , . the locations and be spot on up to the minuite , or can be up to a day behind ,

as for fuel they were all was going on about it but no incentive was ever put in place to do good mpg ,

over all a good bit of kit for those who take there time and are good boys and girlys , but not for those who wizz around every where and spend the day pilfering pallets and derv , as you will see

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looks ok but when we get it ,they will have come up with something to replace it with.

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Cheers for that folks. :grimacing:

Hollie - I wonder if this will be the same system or an updated one since the Volvos concerned were allegedly ordered as part of a job lot with Innovate’s. Sounds like it’s no concern for any of us, though. Given the structure of our pay scheme, and the attention paid to keeping us legal in order to keep the pay scheme legal, we have nothing to worry about. Time will tell - but thanks for the heads up. :wink:

Looks like I’m ok to stay positive on this when they come knocking on my Iveco’s door to fit it…Wonder how long it’ll take Jeannie the Jinx to start giving me warnings on the dash to say it’s not working when it quite blatently is…or say it is working when it quite blatently isn’t…or just give up and turn all the brake lights out in a totally random protest against electrical equipment… :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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so are you ending up with a volvo then or sticking with your iveco then

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Keeping the Iveco. I threatened to weld the doors up if they tried to make me move. I’ve been promised that I don’t have to. Which probably means it’ll go next week, knowing my luck… :unamused: :cry: …But for now I am staying both snug and smug in my analogue-equipped, specially hired-in, 03-plate personal disaster area. :grimacing: :sunglasses: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

(I also pointed out to the FM that if he gave me a Volvo I’d call it Verruca the Vile. :smiling_imp: )

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ah , the early fh13 06 reg trucks had a large diffrence in speed some only did 84kmh some 87 and a few did 90 and 1 did 91 , they were suppost to all be 89 kmh i belive they kept that spec through all the new ones oup untill i left

so if you get evicted out the cab , mind what you pick or test before you move in , as 84 on the m6 is a insult , but 91 is bliss , and it ■■■■■■ the irish off as well as you have the power up the hills ,

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Lucy:
( I’d call it Verruca the Vile. :smiling_imp: )

dont laugh but mine was called “Archibald gaylord” but in italic writing it wasnt that obvious

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Our fleet is just having it all activated …
No experience of it yet , but the only people moaning about it are the people who like easy jobs and sit in the laybys all night , those days are over for them .

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Tesco has just updated its Isotrak system, cost them £6000,000 to do it so I am told. They know where you are, how long you have stopped for, what trailer you have, etc, etc.

I have no problem at all with it, use the text message function to inform transport of any delays and don,t take the pee it can be your best mate.

Like that has been said, only the hangers out need worry about it.

Asda drivers will have it soon.

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I think I have posted details of our ICS system somewhere. Basically its a Dutch Telematics system that can be tweaked to tell the office anything it needs to know.

It also allows me to go away on a three week trip and not speak to anyone :stuck_out_tongue:

I was shown some of the detail I can extract from the system. I have also seen it used to back a driver in a dispute with a customer.

Basically ours works out fuel consumption, empty running, pumping time, idling, and it keeps a track on the loads, weights and which compartment we load. The trailer tracker is good too as we can drop a trailer anywhere and it shows up on the map on a PC in the office.

I think Dynafleet go a bit further and allow Volvo to tweak your engine as you drive or the TM to tweak your ear if you fill your car up from the lorry :wink:

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i have just seen the volvo film . and trust me it doesnt work as fast as that , and the little sat nav screen is a very expensive extra , and you have a big keyboard as well