Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/661456
30 | Overdrive | April 2016 Vigillo. The leading cruncher of data from the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, Vigillo serves many of the nation's big fleets. "You see big numbers – 40, 50 percent increases in profitability and revenues for those that really embrace all this new data world." While that's good news for the fleets, it's a mixed bag for com- pany drivers and owner- operators. Those whose performance doesn't hold up well under close scru- tiny could face negative consequences. On the other hand, fleets will be try- ing harder to keep the best drivers, as well as those responsive to training. Also, in this era where too many mistakes can kill your career quickly, it could be a blessing in disguise if your fleet runs your data profile through its predictive lens, then takes steps that help you avoid a likely violation or accident. One of the best data-related strategies for retention is more careful recruiting. "The big gains are in understanding drivers and their work preferences, and matching them to the right company," says Dean Croke, vice president of Omnitracs Analytics. BY AARON HUFF AND MAX HEINE DATA: THE UNSEEN HAND STEERING YOUR CAREER D o you live far from a fleet's terminal? Did you just grad- uate from a driving school? Are you single? If the answer to any of those ques- tions is yes, it could be a strike against you at certain fleets considering your application. There are potentially hun- dreds more such factors being weighed by analysts who can see quite clearly what driver behaviors, personality traits, demographics and other factors corre- late with turnover and safety. As fleet owners continue to find more ways to turn their drivers and prospec- tive drivers into sets of data, they are moving recruitment, retention and safe- ty management closer to science than art. This expanding harvest of data and the eagerness of predictive analytics vendors to help fleets make better use of it are reshaping how the industry relates to drivers. "It's just coming so fast," says Steve Bryan, chief executive officer of WIRED, WATCHED AND WEEDED OUT • Fleet executives will manage drivers more on correlations drawn from an ever- growing set of data. • Otherwise harmless personal data could strongly influence whether you get hired. • Safety records, combined with other data, will dictate when to hold remedial training sessions. In 2005, Lafayette, La.-based Dupre Logistics tapped FleetRisk Advisors to create predictive models to analyze complex data sets and iden- tify drivers who were more likely to quit. TOMORROW