New course revolutionises logbook training

In 2017, police issued almost half a million dollars in logbook fines to over 1900 drivers of heavy vehicles and passenger vehicles. This doesn’t include the more than 300 cases that went to court where the fine is up to $2000 per offence plus a suspension of at least one month.*

Filling in a logbook can be a challenge for drivers – it’s easy to forget the rules. For drivers on overseas licences that don’t have to convert to a New Zealand licence for a year, logbook training can be especially challenging if they have English as a second language.

Typically, taking a logbook course has meant going to a training establishment and sitting in a classroom for two or three hours at a cost of more than $250. As the average concentration span is only 20 minutes, retaining all that knowledge is difficult.

A new logbook course from DT Driver Training is making it much easier and more affordable for a driver to learn the logbook rules and to refresh them if they need to. The online course is only $25 including GST and is available to the driver for up to 6 months after purchase.

It is divided into short modules that take between two and 10 minutes – the perfect length of time for drivers to absorb and remember the information. It can be taken on any device – computer, smartphone or tablet – wherever there’s internet access and is able to be completed in around an hour. A driver’s employer can monitor course progress and the driver can print a certificate of achievement at the end of the course.

Drivers will be taken through a full six-day logbook scenario and many more examples as they learn about work time and rest time, recognising and managing fatigue, logbook exemptions, extensions and unforeseen delays, using multiple vehicles, secondary employment and under what circumstances they would be exempt from keeping a logbook – in fact, it covers everything recommended in unit standard 24089. The course questions can be translated into one of 104 languages to assist those who have arrived recently from overseas and every question has an equivalent English language audio file to help those with English language literacy issues.

The course delivers huge benefits to the driver as they reduce or eliminate their risk of fines and licence suspensions, but it also helps transport operators whose rating in the Operator Rating System is affected by their drivers’ infringements. Operators can also be fined up to $25000 for their drivers’ mistakes.

Finally, checking logbooks adds to police workload as the pink enforcement copies must be sent away to be analysed. Improved compliance by drivers will mean fewer man-hours wasted by police.

The course is useful not only for drivers that must fill out a paper logbook, but also teaches the concepts of work time and fatigue to drivers using electronic logbooks who must still comply with work-time requirements.

With the minimum penalty being a $150 fine and 10 demerit points, this logbook course is an excellent way of reducing a driver’s risk of financial hardship and loss of licence.

For more information or to book a demo, visit the website or call 021 222 0888.

*OIA request to NZ Police from DT Driver Training

ENDS

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