Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/409537
PULSE November 2014 | Overdrive | 5 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com A t last month's American Trucking Associations annual conference, "Vid- eo-based driver risk management sys- tems were the highlight of the show," reported my colleague, Aaron Huff. Truck-mounted video cameras have been around for years, but what's changed is the emergence of special- ists helping fl eets to harvest useful data from zillions of hours of recordings. It's long been touted that forward-facing truck cameras can, more often than not, benefi t the driver and fl eet in the case of an ac- cident. The addition of driver-facing cameras, though, has raised privacy concerns. Video system vendors are working to address them. For example, Lytx's DriveCam cameras are set to record only upon hard braking or another severe event. That's a pru- dent compromise since even the best workers in any industry resent a spying eye during every minute at work. Privacy also has been an issue during the many years of hand-wringing about electronic logging devices. As with ELDs, the reality of video systems is not so threatening for safe, ex- perienced drivers. For other drivers, as trucking executives are learning, the real value is not just capturing wrecks or outrageous behavior, but also documenting less dramatic episodes of risk-taking or poor skills that can be used for ongoing training. A study by the Virginia Tech Transporta- tion Institute showed that use of a dual-cam- era system, combined with driver coaching, could reduce truck crashes by as much as a third. Even if you take the study with a grain of salt because it was sponsored by Lytx, more fl eets, with all kinds of safety technolo- gies to throw money at, are choosing to invest in these systems. In one sense, video-based information is just another tributary in an ever-growing river of data fl ooding the computers of carriers and regulators. On the other hand, video is differ- ent. Police across the nation have been stung by videos from bystanders or cameras mounted on their own dashboards. Even drivers can be their own worst enemies, as shown by the story on page 10 about how a driver's self-pub- lished images hurt him and his carrier in court. Owner-operators, being self-employed, might never be forced to adopt truck video. Or, in this overly litigious, insurance-sensitive industry, the day might come where having a camera is a precondition to getting insured. However it plays out for inde- pendent contractors, experience proves that technology with benefi ts that outweigh its costs, especially when safety is a clear benefi t, usually gets adopted voluntarily or mandated by the government. Solid company drivers and owner-operators concerned over injustices in the name of safety would do better to lobby their elected offi cials on changing the many problems of CSA that have been exposed in these pages and elsewhere. Video ' s value Libertore did make note of the chilling effect that added insurance costs could have on new owner-operator businesses. Premiums there are in many cases upward of $10,000 annually for liabili- ty – and have been rising. If the same 25 percent increase applied to such businesses, that's $2,500 or more. "If the percentages are the same, it's going to be really expensive for the new guy," Libertore says. "He might have close to a $20,000 policy." Not so long ago, you might have bought a decent used truck for that amount. READERS SPEAK OUT ON NEW LIABILITY MINIMUM Via OverdriveOnline.com: Mark Garland: Most truck ac- cidents are caused by automobiles. Is their insurance high enough to cover a $200K truck and trailer, a $200K load? What's fair for one should be for all. Mark Platt: This is just another source of revenue for ambulance-chasing trial lawyers. A sweetheart of a deal if you make your living cheating honest hard- working people out of a living. I will raise my rates by 50 percent the day it goes into effect. I strongly urge all of you to do the same. Make your current rate a hard limit, increase it by 50 percent, and tell your customers to thank the FMCSA and trial lawyers by voting in the next election. Joe G.: In late 2012, I closed shop, and I had $1 million liability and $100K cargo. It was about $7K. … Two months ago, I got a quote, and it was $12,300 a year. … When I went out, it had just jumped $220 a month higher with no claims or tickets. Driver-facing cameras have introduced a new debate about invasion of privacy on the job.