Installing black boxes is just a formality... to comply with regulations.

(Baonghean.vn) -In implementing Government Decree 91, the Nghe An Department of Transport has intensified inspections and enforcement against transport businesses violating regulations regarding the installation and management of vehicle tracking devices (known as black boxes) and drivers who violate regulations. However, most of the installed devices fail to extract all the required data.

In accordance with Decree 91, the Nghe An Transport Inspectorate established two teams to conduct a comprehensive inspection of transport management activities in the province. The inspection covered 41 freight and passenger transport businesses required to install vehicle tracking devices, including 638 fixed-route vehicles, 41 tourist contract vehicles, 68 buses, and 28 container trucks. All vehicles were found to be fully equipped with vehicle tracking devices.

However, the majority of installed devices failed to extract all the required data, with 26 vehicles having non-functional tracking devices. Many devices lost connection, could not be checked on the computer, or reported inaccurate information. Some units still lacked logbooks to track vehicle activity via tracking devices, and failed to monitor, remind, or penalize drivers for traffic safety violations.

Upon investigation, we learned that the reason some vehicles with installed devices are not functioning or extracting complete data is because some vehicle owners, tempted by low prices, install poor-quality devices that only work for a short time before completely losing connection.

Checking the black box at Vinh Bus Station.

According to Mr. Vu Hoang Huynh, Head of Vinh Bus Station, nearly 50% of inter-provincial passenger buses are equipped with low-quality, inexpensive black box devices. The main reason is that these vehicles are mostly old, have low value, and only operate on short routes such as Vinh – Dung, Vinh – Do Luong, Vinh – Hoang Mai… They also have to compete with regular buses on less busy routes, resulting in low income. Installing high-quality, expensive black boxes would negatively impact their earnings, so vehicle owners only install cheap devices to avoid detection by authorities.

Currently, there are 20 representative units of businesses headquartered in Hanoi providing vehicle tracking devices in the province, with prices ranging from 2 to 7 million VND per unit. These dealers often approach businesses and vehicle owners to advise and persuade them to buy their devices. However, because they do not have a fixed office in Nghe An, warranty and repair services for malfunctions or damage are not a priority for these dealers. Some units even deliberately avoid responding to repair requests from customers.

For example, consider the case of the Passenger Transport Enterprise under the Central Vietnam Investment and Development Joint Stock Company. In June 2012, the Enterprise signed a contract with a dealer in Nghe An belonging to Ha An Technology Development Joint Stock Company (headquartered in Hanoi) to install 7 vehicle tracking devices on 7 long-distance vehicles at a price of 5,000,000 VND per device. However, less than 6 months after installation, the devices completely malfunctioned, and no data could be extracted. The Enterprise repeatedly contacted Ha An's dealer in Nghe An but received no response. As a last resort, representatives of the Nghe An Passenger Transport Enterprise sent a letter to Ha An Company, but the company's leadership refused to take responsibility.

Mr. Le Hong Son, Deputy Director of Nghe An Passenger Transport Enterprise, expressed his frustration, saying: "Almost every company that comes to offer their services has a quality certificate issued by the Ministry of Transport, but in reality, the product quality does not meet the requirements."

Because there is no information on what constitutes a standard-compliant black box, many businesses and vehicle owners choose cheaper models, as long as they have some features such as recording the journey, speed, and vehicle stopping/parking location, without paying attention to other features such as printing ports, driver's driving time, etc.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Lam, Head of the Training Planning Department of Nghe An Bus Station Joint Stock Company, most transport businesses and cooperatives install "black boxes" prioritizing quantity over quality. Furthermore, equipment suppliers in the province focus only on profit, neglecting product quality and warranty/maintenance services. As a result, many devices are installed but cannot extract data. On the other hand, transport businesses and cooperatives also haven't paid attention to connecting the device's data with the management system within their units during vehicle operation.

It's time for authorities in the province to take stronger action in inspecting and penalizing vehicles with "black boxes" that fail to extract all the required data, as well as units supplying substandard equipment. With Decree 91 coming into effect, "black boxes" are expected to be an effective solution for monitoring drivers and transport businesses, contributing to reducing catastrophic traffic accidents.

Vo Huyen