Superior Driver Identification with FleetSure
by Alexander Goldstone at 9am on March 31st, 2008
One of the key technologies we will be demonstrating at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show will be our take on driver identification - a feature we use to help improve both security and accountability:
- Vehicle and Cargo Security… The vehicle should be prevented from starting unless the driver has permission to drive it. Some operators would also prefer that loading doors could not be opened unless the driver has permission and/or the doors are unlocked under the control of the back-office.
- Driver Accountability… It is assumed that a driver is responsible for how, where and when they drive a particular vehicle however this assumption only holds true if there can be no doubt that they were in fact the driver when an event occurs.
Not all fleet management solutions provide a facility to identify the driver of a vehicle however the ones that do, do so in one of the following two ways:
- Personal Identification Number (PIN)… This relies on a touch-screen or key-pad installed near the driver’s seat. Each driver is allocated their own unique PIN which they enter to identify themselves prior to starting the vehicle.
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)… An RFID receiver that can be installed anywhere in the vehicle as the driver does not manually need to do anything. Each driver is allocated their own RFID tag which is small enough to be mounted inside a badge, used as a key-fob or simply carried in the driver’s pocket. Each time a driver attempts to start the vehicle, the RFID receiver checks to make sure that an authorised RFID tag is in the vicinity and if it is then the ID of the driver that was allocated that tag is recorded and the vehicle allowed to start.
RFID would appear to be the more advanced solution however both have their problems:
- Using PIN codes places a burden on the driver to actually remember the code they have been allocated. This should be fine for regular drivers but ad-hoc drivers are unlikely to remember their PIN when the need arrises and they won’t be able to start the vehicle without assistance from someone in the back-office. In this case the fleet management system becomes a cause of the very inefficiencies that it is ultimately supposed to be improving.
- As discussed above, driver identification should provide accountability over how, where and when a vehicle is used. PIN codes and RFID tags do not allow this as drivers can exchange their codes and tags with each other. There is even the possibility of identity theft not only with RFID tags, where the tags can be stolen, but also with PIN codes if some drivers feel the need to write down their code rather than relying on memory. If and why drivers would go to such extremes is anyone’s guess but the fact that they can means that it becomes difficult to hold them accountable based on details recorded by the fleet management solution.
- If two drivers are in the same vehicle (i.e. one is a passenger) then there RFID can certainly identify that both drivers are present however there is no way to identify who is actually driving.
Our FleetSure platform can support both PIN code and RFID options and, driver identification aside, we do whole heartedly embrace RFID for certain asset tracking applications. We do not however consider either of these options optimum for driver identification.
- Fingerprint Identification is fast, reliable and has none of the down-sides of a PIN code or RFID tag.
- Drivers do not need to remember anything to identify themselves, they simply place their finger on a sensor that is installed in the vehicle.
- The vehicle will not start unless the driver has authorisation and if a driver does start the vehicle using their finger then they are taking accountability for their actions because people can not exchange or steal fingers like they can a PIN code or RFID tag.
- If a driver chooses to start a vehicle for someone else then they have made an active decision to do so and accountability stands.
- In case of a vehicle hijack, drivers can be trained to identify themselves in a particular way such as using their other hand or a thumb instead of a finger. There are no alternative PIN codes to remember and the driver need do nothing unusual to start the vehicle. The back-office system would simply observe which finger the driver used to identify themselves and a silent alarm would be raised as appropriate.
Early on in our R&D cycle we encountered several complaints about the use of fingerprint technology. Mostly those complaints focused drivers being treated like criminals. Whilst we can understand this obvious reaction, we find that with a little education the concerns of both operators and drivers are alleviated and both parties come to embrace the advantages of this technology:
- We do not store a driver’s finger prints. We store key markers, against which a fingerprint can be compared. This is every bit as reliable as true fingerprint comparison but means there is no way for us or anyone else to recreate a drivers fingerprint from the details we store.
- Drivers are not being treated like criminals. Accountability works both ways. Proof that a driver is innocent of something they might ordinarily be suspected of is just as important as proof that a driver is guilty. Driver identification benefits the driver as much as it does the fleet operator.
As far as we know, our FleetSure platform is the first and only fleet management solution to incorporate fingerprint identification. This allows us to clearly stand out from the crowd however we know that it is the uses of this technology and not the technology itself that will primarily interest a potential customer. If you are at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show then please visit us on stand 11-028 for a demonstration and to discuss how this technology might benefit you.
