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Quartix says the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill in April will give the vehicle telematics industry a huge boost, as operators realise that such systems can act as protection for themselves.  Director Andy Kirk explains that telematics can be used to ensure that drivers are sensible, that they do not work excessive hours, that they take adequate breaks, and that they do not speed.

On the subject of the latter, Kirk says one Quartix customer has seen the number of speeding  tickets its drivers receive fall by 60% since fitting telematics. The company has just introduced a London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) facility on its tracking product.

If a vehicle enters the zone, an email is automatically sent to the traffic office, with information on the scheme and advice on how to pay the fee. Quartix already offers a similar service for the London Congestion Charge. Customers can also arrange to set up zones that are specific to their line of work.

Kirk gives the example of a scaffolding company that might want to put a zone around all of the local scrap metal dealers. This would prevent dishonest employees from selling scaffolding for cash and then pretending that the missing poles were simply left on site. Some companies choose to put a zone around an employee's own address - stopping them from going home during the day when they should be working.

Quartix encourages customers to inform their drivers that tracking equipment has been  fitted to their vehicle. In fact this is a legal requirement if employees are allowed to use vehicles in their own time. The telematics company this month launches an all-new budget product, which gives customers access to tracking only. The service costs 66p per day instead of the usual 75p, and can be upgraded to the full package with a phone call to Quartix.