Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339482
July 2014 | Overdrive | 23 est with himself [will say], 'If they're picking this up on the camera, maybe I've picked up some bad habits over the years.' " The cameras "are truth-tellers on how driving is done. Now, if we're involved in an at-fault accident, we know the true cause," he adds. Having video evidence neutralizes the emotions around on-highway incidents and allows all parties to increase safety, users believe. "How could you expect a basketball or baseball coach to coach his players if he couldn't see what they were doing?" Field asks. Dual-camera systems – one camera facing forward, the other trained on the driver – have made inroads among Overdrive's audience. Seven percent of respondents to a spring 2013 poll noted their trucks were equipped with such a system. Attendant to their growing pres- ence in trucks, concerns about privacy invasion have been legion from many drivers faced with the idea of driving under the microscope, so to speak, of a video camera. Following some of Overdrive's earliest coverage of dual-camera systems in 2012, readers complained about in-cab video being an invasion of privacy. One owner-operator compared cameras in the cab to surveillance cameras in public restrooms. While the operator noted he used cameras on his truck's exterior for security, he'd never do the same in-cab. "The truck is the trucker's home," noted another reader. Two San Diego companies, Lytx and SmartDrive, lead as system providers. Both companies' systems are triggered to record only either by the driver or by a specifi c event such as a hard brake or abrupt swerve. Lytx and SmartDrive representatives review the clips, sending along to the fl eet only those that meet parameters specifi ed, typically whether there's a coachable moment, a safe- ty-critical event, an infraction that goes against company policy or, the worst case, an accident. As of June, Prime was three months into a test of systems from SmartDrive and Lytx's DriveCam in 25 trucks each. It's one of only a few such dual-camera tests or implementations that include owner-operator trucks. Prime's tests are taking place in a mix of volunteer company, lease-purchase and fully owner-operator trucks, says Field. The fl eet is picking up the cost of the devices for owner-operators and drivers during the test. Prices for such technology include more than just the single hardware purchase or ongoing leasing costs asso- ciated with the devices because the huge amounts of generated video need to be fi ltered to what's useful. Both DriveCam and SmartDrive employ hundreds of people, many tasked with reviewing clips. Angie Buchanan, in safety and hu- man resources at Melton Truck Lines, says the 1,000-plus-truck fl eet has outfi t- ted close to half of its company tractors with DriveCam dual-units, which capture g-force-activated clips in 12-sec- ond intervals, saving the eight seconds SOURCE : 2013 Ove rd ri veOn li ne .co m po ll DO YOU OR YOUR FLEET USE VIDEO IN/ON YOUR TRUCK? No 66% Yes, a road-facing camera only 21% Yes, a driver- and road-facing system 7% Yes, other backup assist or blind-spot covering system 3% Yes, other 3% YES 34% Dual-camera systems have come far enough that they were discussed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminis- tration's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee at its February meeting. A small minority recommended the systems be considered for unspecifi ed potential regulation. Some members suggested requiring widespread use. A few months later, Lytx unveiled a company-sponsored study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that showed use of the dual-camera systems with paired driver coaching protocols poten- tially could reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes by as much as a third if employed nationwide. The study concluded the technology could eliminate 800 fatalities per year. That's 20 percent of fatalities resulting from truck crashes, based on averages from 2010 to 2012. Asked whether the VTTI analysis presaged a lobbying effort to require the devices, Lytx rep Del Lisk insists on the contrary. "If we're active in any form of [lobbying], we're in the opposite direction," he says. Improving safety by using video is not as "simple as slamming a camera in a vehicle and everybody would get better." All the same, Lisk believes driver acceptance of dual-camera technology as a training tool will gain ground. A test of DriveCam use at a driver school is working to get new drivers accustomed to the technology. "The instructor has a button that can trigger a manual event," which then can be used in showing the driver what he did right or wrong. VIDEOCAM MANDATES IN THE OFFING? Video_Cameras.indd 23 6/26/14 9:53 PM