A TRUCE has been called in the dispute between the two sides in the row over the use of 'black boxes' to track vehicles. ADT Fire and Security had been threatened with legal action by The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) over its plans to introduce tracking software to its fleet of vans.

The engineering union claimed the fitting of the devices to the 1,300 vans used by ADT service engineers was in breach of new human rights laws. But both sides have now agreed that the systems can be 'switched off' while drivers are using the vehicles outside their working hours. Kevin Reynolds, fleet manager at ADT, said: 'We have agreed we will fit a switch that will allow individual drivers to disable the system, so there will be no monitoring outside the driver's working hours.

'As a company we have a requirement to track vehicles during working hours. It's an asset management system rather than tracking stolen vehicles. Ultimately, it's the company's desire to make business more efficient by using this system, but there will be no requirement to track individuals outside working hours.'

Giving drivers the option of switching the devices off while not at work was put forward by ADT as a possible solution to the dispute which would avoid legal action. Road safety campaigners have long supported the use of fleet management software as a way of monitoring and improving driver behaviour.