Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/506679
PULSE May 2015 | Overdrive | 5 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com S wift Transportation announced last month that it will put Lytx DriveCam dual-camera systems on its fleet of more than 6,000 company-owned trucks. Swift is not alone in a trend that shows, once again, the contentious interplay between technology, privacy and return on investment. As with electronic logging, drivers have not been eager for driver- or road-facing cameras under a fleet's control. When it comes to in-cab cameras, you can't blame anyone in any job for resisting an electronic eye capable of recording your entire shift. Though most in-cab camera systems are set to record only seconds before and after events such as hard braking, that's been little comfort to many drivers. Regardless of such concerns, the cameras are coming. One reason is that in an accident with a four-wheeler, video more often than not will exonerate the driver and his fleet. On a broader note, the hard evidence be- ing captured of four-wheelers at their most reckless (such as those you can see on Overdrive's dashcam clips collection, OverdriveOnline. com/dashcamcentral) eventually could support efforts to educate or punish careless motorists. But the biggest payoff for fleets is that the vendors' analysis of video helps their custom- ers identify drivers who need coaching. Often what gets addressed are just the basics, such as following too close, as Angie Buchanan of Melton Truck Lines told Senior Editor Todd Dills last year. The driver "might not realize it from a habit perspective," she says, but once it's pointed out, it's fixed easily. An Overdrive poll last summer showed that one in five readers have a camera system in their truck. What's telling is that most of those are owner-op- erators who bought their own forward cameras. Like fleets, they see the advantage of legal protection. Some also see added security value while parked. In the case of electronic logs, many fleets willingly paid for the systems well in advance of the federal mandate, which could take effect in late 2017. Most did so not because they are such saintly practitioners of safety, but because it just made sense. It simplifies work for driv- ers and office staff. It reduc- es the potential for violations, thereby reducing expensive and time-consuming friction with regulators. Truck cameras seem to be following the same path. Whether forward or dual-cam- era systems eventually will fall under a federal mandate isn't clear, but in the meantime, common-sense factors point to their continued adoption. That includes forward dashcams bought by single-truck own- er-operators who are able to see with a clear eye when technol- ogy offers more good than harm. Dashcam dance The growing use of truck-based video illustrates the conten- tious interplay between tech- nology, privacy and return on investment. thieves from breaking into or stealing the truck. Independent owner-op- erator Brad Willis discussed his Blue Tiger camera unit in his Freightliner Colum- bia: "You can set it for the amount of force needed to make it record" an on-high- way event. Otherwise, "it will record in a loop on a mini-SD card," saving over itself unless triggered man- ually or by a force incident such as a hard bump or braking maneuver. Such events increasingly have included compelling ex- amples of what truckers en- counter on the road. That's why we've launched a new section of OverdriveOnline. com – Dashcam Central. At OverdriveOnline.com/ dashcamcentral, readers can post their own rolling-video work, whether created with a specialty dashcam or a mounted GoPro camera. Such a repository could reinforce in the public eye the serious implications that so many motorists' unsafe on-highway actions have for the pilots of big trucks. As with Overdrive/Red Eye Radio's Trucker Talent Search submissions, you'll first need to upload your video to YouTube before creating your entry in Dashcam Central. After the upload, grab the YouTube video link coding for use in our submission form on the Dashcam Central website. So, driver, got a good video with a story behind it? Jump over to Dashcam Cen- tral and join the debuts. — Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills