Dubai: More than 20,000 heavy trucks will be part of the second phase of the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) vehicle monitoring programme, expanding the reach of the system that tracks truck performance and driver behaviour.
The RTA’s announcement means all 15-year-old trucks, weighing 2.5 tonnes or above, will have to install a telematic device that will be connected to the RTA’s Vehicle Monitoring Centre (VMC).
Phase Two began earlier this month and operators of vehicles falling in this category will have to install the devices before the trucks are due for renewal of registration.
The move comes after the RTA covered around 14,000 trucks exceeding 20 years in service in Phase One from February last year.
The device, which helps detect mechanical faults on the vehicles while keeping an eye on drivers’ conduct on the road, can be installed at the RTA’s Vehicles Safety Service Centre (VSSC) in Jebel Ali.
Earlier this year, the RTA told Gulf News that all new heavy vehicles entering the market would be pre-installed with the monitoring devices before the end of this year.
The upgrade involves installing a device that includes the RFID scanners and driver ID cards, as well as a short training programme about the system for drivers and fleet managers. The package costs Dh1,620 per vehicle including Dh500 annual subscription fee.
“The second phase of the system follows the successful launch of the initial phase targeting vehicles exceeding 20 years in service. These two phases are part of a three phase road map to link all trucks registered in Dubai,” said Abdullah Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.
The programme, when completed will cover around 52,000 heavy vehicles registered in Dubai.
Fleet owners and truck operators can have the devices installed at the RTA’s VSSC located in JAFZA.
Application for the service is also open through the RTA website (www.rta.ae), customer service centre, vehicles safety service (60056000), or via email (vss.support@dt.ae).
The installation service is available 24 hours, with large fleet owners having an option to have the devices equipped at their own premises through mobile units.
The system can monitor the number of driving hours clocked by the vehicle daily and attitudes of heavy vehicle drivers on roads such as reckless driving, sudden braking, dangerous acceleration, over speeding, traffic accidents and driving in prohibited timing or places.
“This technology contributes to improving the safety of transportation and traffic and curbing associated fatalities. The effective monitoring will also improve the environmental sustainability of transport and provide new government services using smart techniques such as the internet of things, big data and AI applications. The development of these breakthrough technologies and linking them with RTA’s Smart Monitoring Centre contributes to the compliance with the approved rules and regulations as well,” said Al Ali.
Located at the RTA Head Offices, the state-of-the-art VMC tracks the connected vehicles live, collecting all the data related to the operation of these vehicles before processing it to help improve road safety.
