Project Background

The Wait Advisor was conceived during the #FatigueHACK, a hackathon organised by the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) for the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) held in parallel with Trucking Australia 2018 at the National Convention Centre Canberra on the 18th to the 20th of April 2018. The hackathon challenge was simple: current fatigue management systems do not seem to work, the participants were asked to propose solutions that might.

There were at least 8 teams in the hackathon, and we were Team 5 (known as Team Comags). Click here for the hackathon website at CBRIN and to check out the other participants.



During the hackathon, we had access to mentors and resource persons such as truck drivers, operators and owner-drivers. What came out as a common theme in the conversations we had was that the delays at the point of loading and unloading whatever cargo the trucks are carrying were a pain to everyone. It has been happening but nothing has been done about it. Hauling companies do not complain because the businesses at each end will just simply move on to another contractor. It would then mean loss of livelihood for the driver.

A truck driver works long hours, particularly the long haul interstate ones. When a driver reports for work, he or she is primed to drive: he or she is ready. However, if the driver is subjected to long waits before starting the day, this readiness-- or fitness to drive --will start to wane. By the time the driver hits the road, the fitness to drive would have suffered already. Why, even ordinary drivers get annoyed and distracted by delays on the road! Compound this issue and we've got a very serious problem, one that has been there for a while but hasn't had the attention it needed for so long.

So we thought, what if we can provide data that will expose where these delays occur? Using data science, we will aggregate data from different trucks and create an abstraction that will make it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to be able to identify a specific source. This will give comfort to drivers-- they will be anonymous, which prevents them from being subjected to retaliatory business practices. More importantly, data that exposes where the delays are will be available and stakeholders will have actionable information before them.

What could possibly happen?

1. Trip planners and truck drivers can better plan trip routes and schedules, which can probably help ease congestion at loading and unloading points and cut short wait time.
2. Industry associations can have better leverage to engage businesses to get them to cooperate in improving the processes at the start and end of each trip.
3. Businesses can make better informed decisions and improve their processes, or face pressure from the industry association, from the general public, and if necessary, from the regulatory bodies.
4. Regulators can persuade unscrupulous businesses  involved in the supply chain under new legislation on the Chain of Responsibility to get their acts together or face stiff penalties. 

Inspired by these possibilities, we then looked at what its potential impact is in the problem domain, which is driver fatigue. Immediately, we saw that cutting delays will definitely improve the fitness-to-drive of the driver such that he or she will be in a better shape when he or she hits the road. A driver with better levels of fitness-to-drive can mean a world of difference than a driver who is not. Ultimately, it will be a safer road for every Australian.

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Our #FatigueHACK Team, photo courtesy of CBRIN.