Operation Safe Driver Week ended a few days ago. But safety remains a hot topic and a daily priority. Telematics plays a key role in establishing and maintaining a safety culture within your fleet. The critical data collected in real time about your vehicles and your drivers’ driving behaviors gives you a comprehensive view of your operations and assets. This data is invaluable in guiding your vehicle training and maintenance efforts, and validating the effectiveness of your safety policies.
Improve Driving Behavior
Driving behavior is one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents. According to the FMCSA, commercial vehicle driver behavior was a contributing factor in more than 30 percent of all commercial vehicle crashes. Of these, the most common issues are speeding, distraction and impairment, which includes fatigue, illness and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Data and reports
Since you can’t physically be in each of your trucks to evaluate the driving of your staff, telematics takes care of it! It monitors various parameters such as speed, acceleration, hard braking and hard turns, etc. This information provides you with a global vision that allows you to identify trends within your fleet. You can easily and quickly identify drivers who are engaging in risky driving behaviors, and then remedy the situation with targeted training.
Real-time coaching
But telematics doesn’t stop there. It’s not enough to analyze data after the fact. It’s more effective to be proactive and use the power of telematics to provide real-time coaching directly in the cab.
The ISAAC Coach, for example, displays visual indicators on a tablet mounted on the truck’s dashboard. This non-distracting tool safely guides drivers in their driving by prompting them to press or release the gas pedal depending on the situation, to shift to a higher gear or to deactivate the cruise control. Based on their performance, the system gives them an overall score that targets the efficiency and safety of their driving.
With these scores in hand, why not gamify the experience? Use these scores to reward top performance and foster a stronger safety culture. That’s what fleets like Tucker Freight Lines, CNTL and Trimac have done. For CNTL, the ISAAC Coach has led to a culture shift in the company, which just finished its best year ever in regards to safety.
Optimize Vehicle Maintenance Management
Well-maintained vehicles are definitely safer vehicles on the road. Telematics devices provide real-time monitoring of vehicle health as they are connected directly to the engine control module (ECM). This makes it possible to go beyond scheduled maintenance and anticipate breakdowns before they occur. Managers can perform condition-based maintenance and better track vehicle maintenance and fuel costs.
Electronic vehicle inspections
Electronic vehicle inspections have the added benefit of speeding up communication with office staff to get a head start and significantly reduce paperwork. You no longer have to wait until the truck is back at the terminal to address the issue. Fleet managers can view the inspection report as soon as the drivers sign it.
In the event of a defect, you can act proactively by instantly reporting it to the mechanic and scheduling the repair. And because a picture is worth a thousand words, advanced telematics devices include the option of taking pictures with a camera to document defects in greater detail.
Leveraging Telematics
Telematics not only helps reinforce and encourage safe driving practices, it is also a powerful communication tool that facilitates interactions between your staff on the road and in the office. It allows everyone to play an active role in improving the safety of the entire fleet.
Find out how ISAAC can become your partner in building and maintaining a safety culture within your fleet.
