Date Prepared: November 2023

Driver Fatigue Management Policy and Procedure

Safety priority

Driver fatigue presents a real and significant risk if left unmanaged.  The safety of drivers and passengers is d@rt’s main priority.  As part of our safety strategy, d@rt requires drivers to adhere to this policy and manage their fatigue when driving, by taking appropriate required rest breaks as outlined below.

Fatigue is more than just being tired and includes physical and/or mental exhaustion.  Working very long or extended hours does not allow time to recover from work, to the extent that a driver is no longer effective or safe at work.

A driver who is fatigued is less able to judge how tired they are, meaning the risk of falling asleep at the wheel is greater, which can have fatal consequences.

Secondary Employment

As part of fatigue management, d@rt recognises that drivers may have other forms of employment that will contribute to the total hours worked each day, in addition to driving with d@rt.

When calculating hours worked each day, d@rt requires a driver to include all work at any other employment, such as time taken for other rideshare services and any other paid or voluntary employment, even if the work is not transport related.

Work and rest times

TSPs and individual drivers must have a fatigue management plan.  They will be asked to confirm that they have a plan when making their application to become TSPs or drivers for d@rt.

For drivers of buses whether heavy or light, the fatigue management plan they are driving under must reflect as a minimum the requirements of the heavy vehicle national law work and rest times at: https://www.nhvr.gov.au/safety-accreditation-compliance/fatigue-management/work-and-rest-requirements/standard-hours

For drivers of passenger vehicles of 4.5t or less, the fatigue management plan they are driving under must as a minimum reflect the following:

• drivers taking a substantial break of at least 30 minutes after 5.5 hours of driving or any other work related activity, or when they are experiencing any feeling of fatigue.
• a continuous break of at least 8 hours (as well as appropriate half-hour rest breaks) where a maximum of 12 hours of driving and/or work related activity has been completed.

Please note: when a driver is logged in and online in the Driver App, this is considered driving and/or a work related activity.

Driver Drugs, Alcohol and Fatigue Self-Assessment

In addition to the requirements referred to above, d@rt requires all drivers to undertake this self-assessment [see here] or a self-assessment process agreed to with d@rt, prior to logging on to access d@rt Services and using the Driver App in order to assess the driver’s fitness to provide transport services to passengers.

D@rt monitoring

d@rt will monitor compliance with fatigue management requirements by issuing a 12 monthly questionnaire seeking confirmation that the TSP drivers or individual drivers are continuing to operate in accordance with this policy.  As part of this process, d@rt may request a random sample of Driver Drugs, Alcohol and Fatigue Self-Assessment records.

d@rt may also utilise exception reporting from driver data and/or direct enquiry to check or confirm work hours over a given timeframe.

Where a potential issue is identified, d@rt will contact the driver and/or their TSP (where applicable) to undertake a detailed analysis of their work against the requirements in this policy.

The TSP or individual driver will comply with any requests by d@rt for information or documents.

Enforcement

d@rt reserves all its rights under its agreement with a TSP or individual driver to deactivate their access to the d@rt Services, or terminate the relevant agreements.

Further information

If you have any questions or comments regarding anything in this document or if you require further information, you can email us at admin@dart.org.au