Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/357935
52 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | AUGUST 2014 technology U sing technology to score drivers started as soon as the automo- bile replaced the horse-drawn wagon. By the early 1920s, many fleets were using mechanical devices to record time and miles to compare driver per- formance with planned route standards. However, transcribing data from these early devices was time-consuming, and the information was limited. Today's electronic engine and telematics systems have expanded the breadth and depth of scoring capabil- ities dramatically. Modern technology provides an instant snapshot of driver performance for such metrics as fuel efficiency, on-time performance, hard braking, speeding and more. The next wave of driver scoring technology appears to be video-based risk management. Besides captur- ing vehicle data, these systems show conditions inside and outside the cab that might trigger a risky event such as rapid deceleration or speeding. With this additional content, fleet managers quickly can determine the root causes of poor performance and coach drivers on how to do better. Some companies that provide these systems have analysts that review each video to identify details such as drivers not wearing seatbelts or being distract- ed. The observations are compiled, analyzed and presented with other event data to fleet managers through a Web portal. Custom scoring Amid all the data available to evaluate drivers and create fair incentive pro- grams, the scores that concern carriers the most relate to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compli- ance Safety Accountability program. Bozzuto's Inc., a food and retail products wholesaler and distribu- tor, installed the SmartDrive system throughout its fleet three years ago. The Connecticut-based company hoped to correct driver errors that led to moving violations that hurt the fleet's Behav- ioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category score for Unsafe Driving. Since implementation, the company's Unsafe Driving BASIC ranking has fallen nearly 100 percentage points to among the best such scores in its peer group. Each carrier may have unique needs for which driving behaviors it wants to improve. To accommodate these differences, the SmartDrive system has a scoring tool that accumulates points based on certain activities or observa- tions from video clips that are triggered by a risky event. The tool, Custom Coaching and Scoring, allows fleets to fine-tune the program to their individual risk pri- orities and safety policies. SmartDrive has a best-practice program designed for each industry segment, specific Continued on page 55 in focus: SCORING DRIVERS Seeing is believing Video adds another dimension to driver scoring systems BY AARON HUFF Fleet managers quickly can determine the root causes of poor performance. SmartDrive Systems delivers insights, recommendations and workflow tools to fleet managers to help them coach drivers on how to improve their skills.