Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/284466
40 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | APRIL 2014 technology A nxiety. It's that deepening, defenseless feeling that motorists get when the large truck in the rearview mirror appears larger than life. It's also the feeling that keeps fl eet owners and managers awake at night, wondering what the next accident could be. One of the most costly and life-threat- ening crashes is the rear-end collision; it also is one of the most frequent. Accord- ing to 2011 crash statistics, 43 percent of large truck crashes involved another vehicle; of these, 23 percent were rear-end collisions, or about 10 percent of the total truck crashes. One way to safeguard against rear-end collisions and other major events is to use technology to identify high-risk behav- iors in time to intervene and eliminate repeat offenses. Mobile fl eet management systems can provide instant alerts for speeding and rapid deceleration or "hard braking" events, some of the leading indi- cators for preventable accidents. The 2011 truck crash fi gures published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Ad- ministration in October 2013 show that speeding is a leading cause of 23 percent of truck accidents. Also making the list are aggressive driving (6 percent) and following too closely (5 percent). Dry van carrier Christenson Trans- portation is using Rand McNally's TPC 7600 system to monitor its 100-truck fl eet. Whenever speeding or hard-braking events occur, drivers receive an in-cab message on their TPC 7600 display. An e-mail alert also is sent to operations, meaning those drivers can expect a phone call. "We immediately contact the driv- er and discuss that event," says Barry McGowen, vice president of the Stafford, Mo.-based company. McGowen estimates that about 80 percent of the fl eet's hard-braking events occur in low-speed situations in parking lots when drivers are bobtailing. The alerts show the vehicle's speed at the time the driver hits the brakes. Low-speed and low-risk situations still merit a phone call, McGowen says. "We want them to know that we see every- thing," he says. "Basically, after about two events, they know we are on top of the sit- uation, and they will quit doing whatever they were doing." Hard braking at highway speeds is a more serious matter. At Christenson, the fi rst event serves as a warning; the second offense can cost the driver his job. Since Christenson started using the Rand McNally technology, it has seen hard-braking events decline by about 75 percent. Today, about 90 percent of its drivers do not have any events on their records, and those with one event are unlikely to make the same mistake twice, McGowen says. Expanding the view Besides providing instant alerts of risky events, mobile fl eet management systems capture detailed second-by-second information of what happened leading up to and following the moment of truth. These details are useful both for coaching drivers and for legal defense. The XRS mobile fl eet management system reports speeding and rapid accel- eration and deceleration events. For each event, XRS captures the time, location and a range of vehicle data that includes speed, throttle, clutch, cruise control and brake pressure. in focus: CRITICAL EVENT MONITORING Critical event data helps fleets, drivers eliminate mistakes BY AARON HUFF The moment of truth The Omnitracs mobile fleet management system can alert managers to areas of risky driving behavior. Continued on page 43