Log Books for Transport Industry
What logs can look like
In the widget below, we have tried to provide examples of how logs are actually used in various companies
Contents of transport logs across different industries
| Area | Examples of how logs are used |
|---|---|
| Road haulage | Commercial road haulage is primarily the transport of cargo by semi-trailers and trucks. Dispatchers call the drivers and record information such as:
Taxi fleets keep logs of drivers starting their shifts and of their medical check-ups. |
| Aviation | There are strict rules governing the keeping of certain logs for aircraft and their operation. These include technical inspection logs, pre-flight inspection logs, various certification logs, logs of routes and miles flown, logs recording various violations, and so on. |
| Maritime shipping and yachting | Large seagoing vessels are like entire factories on water – their operation and maintenance likewise require carrying out certain periodic tasks, inspections, and recording the running hours of units and assemblies. In addition, ships logs are kept recording the vessels passage of various waypoints. |
| Rail transport | In rail transport, the following logs are typically kept:
|
Real-life cases where poor log-keeping led to disasters
The Hatfield rail crash, United Kingdom (2000)
is perhaps the most striking example in history directly linked to log-keeping. A passenger express derailed because the high rail shattered and fragmented over a 35-metre stretch due to severe fatigue defects in the rail head. Four people were killed.
The root of the problem lay precisely in the documentation. There was a requirement to record the settings of the ultrasonic equipment and the defects found, but there were no instructions on exactly how this data should be recorded — which created confusion, since the same crack could be entered into the log in many different ways. Moreover, there were no requirements on how to report inspection results to senior management.
Aviation – falsified or missing log records.
In aviation, falsified or missing maintenance log records have repeatedly led to disasters. One documented case: a man falsely represented himself as the holder of an Inspection Authorization certificate and fraudulently certified that he had performed an annual inspection of an aircraft and found it airworthy. The aircraft subsequently lost power in flight, which led to a crash. In reality, he was not an IA certificate holder and had not performed the inspection, as he falsely claimed.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/suburban-houston-man-convicted-falsifying-aircraft-inspection
Specifics of log-keeping in transport
When it comes to logs that require collecting information from vehicle drivers, there is always a particular challenge – the drivers themselves most likely will not enter this information by hand. Usually, dispatchers call them and clarify the situation. Here you have to keep the specifics in mind – good signal coverage is far from available everywhere, so calls are made simply over the cellular network.
A voice-input scenario greatly simplifies keeping reliable logs in situations like these!