AS OPERATORS READY themselves for when digital tachographs become law in May, new technology from Jaama should allay concerns over how the data will be downloaded.

While printouts can be obtained directly from digital tachographs such an outdated routine does not allow for detailed analysis of driver and vehicle activity to be undertaken effectively and it means record keeping is inefficient. Instead, Jaama says commercial vehicle operators should download all digital tachograph information to carry out, for example, checks on drivers’ hours and rostering as required by the legislation, and to maintain records in accordance with Operator Licence regulations.

To help facilitate this, Jaama’s Key2 Vehicle Management software utilises Microsoft’s .NET2 technology using XML data standards, which is the computer industry’s new communication language. It enables different systems to ‘talk’ to each other so long as they are XML compatible.

This means disparate software in different departments and depots will be able to exchange information with each other and through external links thus providing minimum input and maximum accuracy.

Jaama md Jason Francis said: “Jaama has developed a fleet management hub which automatically and seamlessly links suppliers, customers, drivers and technology providers together and enables the downloading and dissemination of digital tachograph data without personnel intervention to a single database for multiple use.”