Hazmat trucking and new compliance requirements by TGA

Hazmat trucking and new compliance requirements by TGA

Hazmat trucking and new compliance requirements by TGA  

The transportation of petroleum products and hazmat load have big role in the transportation industry of any country’s economy. Hazmat trucking is the transportation of hazardous materials, which includes hazardous gases, chemicals or poisons to trash and radioactive materials. When you are the driver of hazmat trucking, driving safely is the foremost priority, Drivers hauling a hazmat load and petroleum products have the added stress of ensuring they are following the additional regulations for this type of cargo.

The transportation of petroleum products and hazardous materials must have its transportation policies in accordance with the new regulations issued by Transport General Authority to optimize the benefits of producing and transporting such resources. For your fleet running on road, vehicles must be connected with Wasal portal where operation cards are issued for vehicles. However, it can only be made possible when public or private transport have load sensors installed in their vehicles from tracking companies licensed by Transport General Authority such as Digital Myths Solution.

Vehicle insurance telematics
Vehicle insurance telematics

Recently a new regulation has been issued for transporters of petroleum products and hazardous materials to have an online electronic permit issued by Naqal to ensure the safety and quality of goods. The permit will be used as evidence that the material at the time of delivery to consignee is in the same condition as described in the document by the transporter. It will secure the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved in the transportation process. Fleet managers dealing with these products must be well-versed in risk management. Since their ignorance will not only hinders the hauling business but the material might endanger humans, animals, or the environment. However, hazardous trucking may be worthwhile if you practice cautions, understand the products, and use fleet management systems licensed by TGA such as Eagle-I vehicle tracking and fleet management system.

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Smart Ways to Monitor and Control Idle Time in Your Fleet

Smart Ways to Monitor and Control Idle Time in Your Fleet

Smart Ways to Monitor and Control Idle Time in Your Fleet

In the fleet industry, you have probably heard the term “idling” many times. But what does it actually mean?

Essentially, idling is when a vehicle’s engine is left running while parked or stationary. This is typically seen when a driver stops at a red light or waits in a parked position. Idling is harmful to the vehicle itself, as it is an ineffective way to warm up the engine and other components. A better way to warm up is to drive off slowly, as this warms up the transmission, tires, suspension, steering and contributes to a longer lifespan of the vehicle.

There are several reasons why drivers may choose to let their vehicles idle.

False Economy:

Drivers who need to wait for a client or take their breaks in the vehicle may idle it to keep the air conditioning and radio running, and they may believe that idling is more efficient than stopping and starting the vehicle. However, today’s high-efficiency starters and engines have made that a false economy.

Vehicle insurance telematics

Environmental Impacts of Idling:

Those who need to make lots of stops and deliveries may also want to leave their truck idling while they run a package to the door. However, what most fleet managers and drivers don’t realize is that idling can be surprisingly expensive in terms of both fuel and fumes. In fact, idling for just 10 seconds uses more fuel than turning a truck off and back on again. This is even more significant for smaller vehicles, where the fuel cost to restart compared to idling is even lower. Additionally, idling burns fuel and emits exhaust, even though the car doesn’t require gasoline to move anywhere. This contributes significantly to carbon emissions and noise pollution, particularly for larger trucks. It also creates a potentially harmful environment for employees and business partners who are working around an idling truck. Furthermore, customers who dislike the exhaust and the noise of an idling truck may negatively associate your fleet with these factors.

Vehicle insurance telematics

Fortunately, there are ways to reduce idling time. Fleet managers can gain valuable insights into their drivers’ behavior by employing a telematics platform such as Eagle-IoT, which can provide them with a deeper comprehension of how and why drivers are idling. Eagle-IoT vehicle tracking and fleet management software have the capability to reduce idling route optimization. It considers traffic patterns and customer locations to create more efficient routes. Besides this, it can also analyze driver behaviour by providing insight into how and why certain drivers idle (or waste fuel in other ways) more than others in the fleet.

Educate drivers on the downsides of idling

By using fleet management software, fleet managers can not only encourage their drivers to avoid idling for long periods but can also reward and coach them. Eagle-IoT Driver Scorecard provides a recognition system that highlights the drivers who are doing a good job of avoiding excessive idling. Incentivizing drivers for reducing their idle time is a great option to promote the culture. Coaching can be done through conducting seminars and workshops where educational articles or videos can be used to explain the impacts of idling and how it can be avoided. By gaining a better understanding of why drivers idle and how they can be encouraged to avoid excessive idling, fleet managers can make informed decisions about which strategies will work best for their operation. Engine shut-off timers and automatic startup/shutdown features are another great way to reduce idling. However, these may not be the correct solution for fleets primarily running on diesel. Investing in idle reduction technology such as Eagle-IoT carbon emission solution is the ultimate solution for fleets to help in reducing idle time.

The key to making lasting improvements to a fleet is to gain insight and use and analyse the data to track the improvements. With Eagle-IoT user-friendly dashboard, this is now possible.

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How to Effectively Secure Your Vehicles from Cyberattacks?

How to Effectively Secure Your Vehicles from Cyberattacks?

How to effectively secure your vehicles from cyberattacks? 

The topmost goal for automobile manufacturers is vehicle safety, which now corresponds to cybersecurity more than ever before with software-driven automobiles. Considering these smart automobiles which are incredibly digitally transformed data centers; that is part mainframe, part mobile device, with loaded Internet of Things (IoT) devices make them more prone to targets for cybercriminals. Earlier in August 2022, a report was published revealing the six vulnerabilities found in in-vehicle GPS tracker MV720 of MiCODUS, if compromised in a cyber-attack could affect over 1.5 million vehicles in 169 countries. The hackers could retrieve sensitive data, manipulate the data, track or even immobilize a vehicle using these GPS trackers. 

How the companies relying on similar vehicle GPS trackers can enhance their security and manage vulnerability without compromising their assets? 

Safe coding practices (preventing shutdowns when the vehicle is moving, providing backups in the event of errors) should be made indispensable during software development. In case of overlooked security developments in software, analysis and threat assessment should be utilized to discover potential threats. Alongside architectural analysis and threat modeling, penetration testing should be conducted to identify vulnerabilities incorporated into production systems as a result of earlier analyses. By simulating the behaviors of a cyberattacker, cyber security specialists can uncover potential threats and assess the overall effectiveness of an organization’s security. 

Vehicle insurance telematics
Vehicle insurance telematics

To swiftly repair security vulnerabilities without creating additional attack vectors when loading updates and configuration data packets from the internet, institutions must use secure over-the-air (SOTA) updates. Trucking firms and GPS/fleet management suppliers must both be diligent when it comes to cyber security. In the coming years, the automobile industry’s reliance on software and networking will only expand; for the automobile industry’s future success, it is of fundamental importance to incorporate comprehensive cybersecurity into all aspects of autos and systems with better vulnerability management which varies in complexity depending on different architectures and does not clutter the communication and workflow of security assessment, analysis, and remediation. 

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Advanced Telematics Shaking Hands with OEMs

Advanced Telematics Shaking Hands with OEMs

Advanced Telematics shaking hands with OEM  

According to the report from Berg Insights, “Global Automotive OEM Telematics Market” 82.7% of all vehicles manufactured in 2024 will have embedded telematics. So, what does this mean for your fleet? 

Traditionally, a standard telematics system immediately notifies the fleet manager of the fault code that occurred (critical or noncritical), rather than providing a probable cause and a recommended solution. A fleet manager supervising 1000 machines may receive 100 or more emails or texts per day containing noncritical fault codes with a probability of fraction of those alerts, if not addressed quickly, could lead to a major problem, such as engine failure. With a crowded inbox full of noncritical alerts, the probability to acknowledge critical alert are less which could potentially result in downtime that could have been avoided if fault code alerts were sorted based on their nature. 

To assist the fleet managers in navigating the overwhelming quantity of data emerging from their vehicles, fleets collaborating with OEM to provide alerts and break down actionable reports to improve uptime and efficiency. The software in an OEM-managed telematics system sorts through machine fault codes and only alert the user or fleet manager when they are critical. An advanced telematics system alert should consist of the exact reason for the alert, what is causing the problem and what will happen if action to fix the issue is not taken 

Vehicle insurance telematics
Vehicle insurance telematics

Telematics service providers, such as Eagle-I, provide raw data to OEM partners, who can then translate it into severity codes, which are then analyzed by the OEM and uploaded to the Eagle-I platform, resulting in a single platform for more accessible and informed fleet choices. Telematics service providers, such as Eagle-I, provide raw data to OEM partners, who can then translate it into severity codes, which are then analyzed by the OEM and uploaded to the Eagle-I platform, resulting in a single platform for more accessible and informed fleet choices. 

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Fleet Data Vulnerabilities: Handle with care! 

Fleet Data Vulnerabilities: Handle with care! 

Fleet Data Vulnerabilities: Handle with care! 

Big data has created a significant impact on practically every industry in recent years and the fleet management industry is following the ongoing trend without any reservation. The potential of big data has elevated fleet management to a notch higher. Businesses that manage fleets are investing significantly in telematics. The extensive data collected by the fleet vehicles via telematics technology has enabled fleet managers with real-time feedback when coupled with data analytics but this connectivity also raises security concerns. Endpoints in connected fleets are quickly becoming more prevalent with the advancement of IoT technology. 

Identifying fleet data vulnerabilities is the preliminary step in evaluating the security of fleet data 

1. Choose your telematics service providers wisely

The first step in protecting fleet data from both device and user vulnerabilities is research. Prior to beginning business with a potential telematics service provider, organizations must assure that they comply with security regulations by CITC Cybersecurity Regulatory Framework (CRF). Since the majority of firms have suffered a third-party data breach as any flaws in these areas might undermine all other security measures. 

Fleets should look for vendors such as Eagle-I who can give solid confirmation of strong security standards complied with the CITC Cybersecurity Regulatory Framework (CRF). 

    Vehicle insurance telematics
    Vehicle insurance telematics

    2. Ensure data encryption 

    Fleets must ensure their telematics devices enable higher encryption levels. Data encryption at rest is as crucial as it is in transit to ensure confidentiality. Many IoT devices do not activate encryption by default, fleet security experts must ensure that it is enabled before deploying it to their systems. Know the encryption policies of your telematics service provider, how their security is validated, and how they maintain their infrastructure. All information kept in a fleet database should use the same encryption standards to mitigate the consequences of a breach. 

      3. Limited Access Privileges 

      Access to data should be just as limited as access to vehicles. Identity and Access Management (IAM) techniques such as role-based access restrictions should be implemented. It will aid in tracing the source of a breach if one occurs. This accountability can also aid in network enhancements and deter hostile insider behavior. 

        Vehicle insurance telematics
        Vehicle insurance telematics

        4. Two-factor authentication 

        IAM is one-half of controlling access privileges. Fleet security teams must also create mechanisms to authenticate device and user identities to guarantee that everyone who accesses a database is whom they claim to be. Besides practicing good password hygiene, multi-factor authentication should be used. As part of IAM measures, authentication methods such as tokens and cryptography should be used to secure telematics devices. 

          Eagle-I uses the above-mentioned strategies to recognize, manage, and minimize data vulnerabilities and security risks to ensure fleet data delivers its full potential without introducing unnecessary hazards. 

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