It is true that many trucking companies rely on telematics data and technology to get a bird’s eye view into how their truck drivers are performing. And there is a good reason for them to do so. Advanced telematics systems provide comprehensive vehicle operation data. From GPS coordinates to fuel and even truck driver behavior, telematics provides the big picture.
Are truck drivers braking, suddenly swerving, or getting involved in too many accidents? Smart fleets use technology to isolate the data they need to prevent such events from happening. Still, it is important to remember that telematics don’t tell the full story regarding what happens on the road and in the cab. Sometimes you need more than just a telematics device. This is where integrated video systems come in. Even better, these systems can connect and talk to telematics systems. When you put vehicle data and telematics together, you are getting the real big picture.
Did you know that 90% of motor-vehicle collisions are caused by human error? That’s right. Whether it be the truck driver or someone else on the road, it is usually an individual behind a wheel that is the primary cause for a road incident. Video helps you answer crucial questions:
- How can video telematics help you understand the root causes of collisions and other road accidents and incidents?
- How can video-based data help you identify and reward good truck driving behaviors?
- How can you predict which truck drivers are more likely to be involved in a collision using telematics data?
Put It All Together
There are many different scenarios where a fleet manager can get critical insight to an event. Yet, there is a bit of forensics involved. It is easy to look at raw data and make an assumption without knowing what happened in a real-world scenario. Let’s take a look at how this can be applied with a hypothetical scenario.
Consider the following hard braking scenarios:
- A brake test is conducted in the morning as part of typical vehicle maintenance and testing. It registers as a severe event, but video shows that it’s just a good safety check, not risky driving.
- A commercial vehicle makes frequent stops. Although stopping a little abruptly could cause vehicle wear and tear, video reveals that this is part of the job and not considered risky driving.
- A truck driver reacts abruptly to avoid a collision after maintaining only a one-second following distance—a common behavior that in this case was captured on video. Because this is not enough time to see a problem and smoothly respond to it, this is considered a risky driving event.
- A truck driver demonstrates good defensive driving by skillfully avoiding a collision when a car suddenly cuts in front of his truck. Although the telematics data indicates that this is a risky event, video proved it was, in fact, an example of good driving.
Of the four hard-braking events shown here, only one was risky. Which one was it? Traditional telematics suggests that all four were risky. But by capturing data that provides real-time context, video telematics reveals that, in fact, only “C” was risky. This is where a combined approach shines a spotlight on blind spots in your strategy.
Traditional telematics often doesn’t tell the complete story. Video can provide critical contextual insights to help you understand what really happened. Video can adequately reveal the root cause of almost any collision. And furthermore, video enables fleet managers to identify and analyze patterns of risky driving behaviors, and to help coach drivers to change these behaviors before they lead to collisions.
Compared to traditional vehicle telematics, video telematics technology provides a high level of data and insights that give organizations a more complete picture of what is occurring in their fleets—including how safely their drivers are operating on the road. There simply is not a substitute for actually seeing what happened, as opposed to hearing about it or reading about it in the data.
When an event occurs, telematics data tells us when and where the event happened. It can also offer a forward-facing external view as to what happened on the road. An internal camera event recorder also shows what the truck driver was doing at the time of the incident. There are many ways motor carriers combine the technologies to provide a comprehensive event window.
Data Reveals Behavior
Researchers have reviewed videos generated by hard-braking and cornering maneuvers to identify the root-cause behaviors of the maneuvers. They have also identified significant behavior differences and calculated collision probabilities to correlate behaviors that show a higher likelihood of future collisions. The data is quite interesting and points to even greater need for video and telematics solutions.
Understanding the data and risky behaviors that video reveals can help you quickly identify the truck drivers who are most likely to be in a collision, so you can focus on helping them improve their skills and avoid a collision altogether. This is where coaching comes in, which we will get into a little bit later.
The question now is, what will the data reveal? If you were to compile your telematics data to look at braking events, you might find the following factors involved:
- Cell Phone
- Late Response
- Following Too Closely
- Truck Driver Unbelted
Cornering events could include:
- Truck Driver Unbelted
- Cell Phone
- Failed To Stop
- Incomplete Stop
Video telematics helps pinpoint risky driving. But that’s only part of the story. It also highlights and documents good driving, like hard braking or other defensive maneuvers to avoid a pedestrian. Most truck drivers understand (and appreciate) that video telematics doesn’t just record mistakes, but can help them become better drivers, exonerate them from false claims, and even save lives.
With video telematics, your company can also recognize and reward truck drivers who demonstrate a track record of safe driving. A little recognition goes a long way toward boosting employee morale and productivity
Imagine a culture of safety where drivers are passionate about safety and compete with each other for the safest driving performance every month. This is the ideal scenario for any trucking company, whether large or small.
Collision Avoidance is Key
Near-collision events involve driving behaviors that are correlated with those near misses. When researchers analyzed a sampling of near-collision events of clients across all industries, they found that 18% of the events were correlated with drivers’ failure to keep an out, and 11% were correlated with insufficient following distance. Combined with cell phone use, these three behaviors are correlated with nearly 40% of the near collisions studied.
Industry analysis also showed that truck drivers with a near-collision event are nearly six times more likely to be involved in a collision within six months than a driver without a near-collision event.
Top behaviors related to near-collision events include:
- Failing to keep an out
- Following distance
- Cell phone usage
- Late response
- Intersection awareness
- Mirror use
- Smoking
- Food & Drink
- Red light
- Failed to stop
- Posted speed violation
- Other distraction
To prevent these problems, you need to rely on effective coaching. Many professional drivers are sports fans. They know the value of good coaching and how critical video is in the coaching process. So, like professional athletes, good drivers understand how video-based coaching can make them perform even better.
A good coach also knows which of their players they need to focus on first. Video-based telematics can help predict which drivers are more likely to be involved in an incident, so coaches can focus on these drivers first. What will you reduce?
- Risky truck driving behaviors
- Minor vehicle accidents
- Worker’s comp claims
- Coachable events
- Cost of collisions
- Overall collisions
Fleet managers need to know how to predict which drivers are more likely to be involved in a collision—so they can prioritize which drivers to coach, and coach them effectively. Fleet managers and coaches can look and see what’s happening and change the behavior before the accident occurs. We can see that behavior, and instead of changing the driver through discipline, we can help them proactively see what they’re doing.
- Video telematics can help you understand the root causes of collisions and other road incidents
- Video-based data can help you identify and reward good driving behavior
- Video provides coaches with information to predict which drivers are more likely to be involved in a collision, so they can prioritize their coaching efforts
Only video telematics can reveal the truth of what’s happening on the road, delivering crucial insights to help you coach risky drivers to become safer drivers. Who wouldn’t be interested in that? Want to learn more about how to choose the right vendor? Simply tap or click on this link!