The Deltion DepotNet and XpressNet products are now capable of receiving and logging information supplied by drivers through their PDAs or mobiles, as to their work start and finish time, driving time, break time and ‘available for work’ time.

The Working Time Directive will place a legal requirement on all transport companies to collect this information to ensure that no driver exceeds the limit of an average of 48 working hours per week over a period of 17 or 26 weeks, depending on local agreement.

Companies which fail to keep proper records – and whose drivers exceed the limit as a result – are liable to penalties ranging from swingeing fines to the potential for imprisonment for corporate manslaughter if a driver who has exceeded the limit is involved in a fatal accident.

Piyush Shah, chief executive officer of Deltion, said while many transport companies used a swipe card system for drivers to record their working time, this system had the potential to fail when drivers were away from the depot.

He said: ‘The swipe card system is fine for smaller organisations operating only within a small area but is not appropriate for accurate time recording for companies where drivers are not depot-based or can be away for many hours or even days at a time.

‘Tachographs do not represent the best way either as most British tachographs do not record ‘available for work’ time and there is always the risk of the tachographs being wrongly filled in, either deliberately or inadvertently, or indeed misplaced.

‘A far better and safer system is for drivers to record their start time, break times and so on via their PDA or mobile phone – either at the time or, if necessary, retrospectively – and for these to be automatically logged and collated at the depot.

‘The various Deltion products can do exactly that.’

Call Deltion on 020 8755 5855 for details.