Can an In-cab Video System Boosts Overall Fleet Safety?
Family owned Florida flatbed carrier, Cypress Truck Lines, has reported significant improvements to its overall safety scores following implementation of an in-cab safety monitoring and coaching performance system.
Within weeks of implementing the SmartDrive® program in 2014, Cypress saw a 57 percent improvement in its overall safety score, with 58 percent and 48 percent reductions in speeding and distracted driving, respectively. In the three years since adopting the dual-camera configuration, and with steady, sustained progress, Cypress has improved its safety score by 80 percent overall, and the fleet has reduced instances of exceeding the maximum fleet speed by 100 percent.
“The SmartDrive program has been a key tool for us to manage and control the safety of a continually changing driver base, and enabled us to better recruit new drivers and get them up to speed quickly on the stringent safety standards we require,” said Matthew Penland, vice president of risk management at Cypress. “We have an obligation to the motoring public to put safe drivers on the road and that’s a responsibility we take very seriously.”
The video-based safety program identifies unsafe driving with an open platform that captures video, vehicle, audio and driving data, and automatically offloads footage for expert review and analysis, providing a clear, complete picture of what happened on the road. In many cases, the video helps quickly exonerate drivers when they’re not at fault in an incident. The management team at Cypress has developed a robust coaching program for its 530-plus drivers based on the actionable data served up by the SmartDrive platform.
“By having in-cab as well as forward-facing cameras, we can prevent accidents through proactive coaching on the skills our drivers need to be safer,” says Penland. “The driver-facing cameras give us insight into what our drivers are doing at the time of an incident so our safety team can address and correct dangerous habits, leading to a direct improvement in driver safety behind the wheel.”
With an aim of creating a positive company culture focused on safety and retaining its quality drivers, Cypress has created a safety bonus program using the individual safety scores assigned to each driver. Drivers are continually given specific and tailored feedback from management on how they can improve, and drivers can also track their personal score on a mobile device, giving them the opportunity to learn and self-correct. Those who demonstrate consistently strong driving skills with no-fault incidents, as well as those who show solid improvement, are rewarded.
In addition to overall improvements in safety, Cypress also credits the video safety program with dramatically increasing seat belt use by 89%, reducing handheld mobile phone use by 96% and diminishing unsafe following by 78%.
“Forward thinking, innovative fleets like Cypress are embracing the SmartDrive program and realizing the powerful impact it has on driver recruitment and retention,” says Steve Mitgang, CEO of SmartDrive.
Category: General Update, News, Safety
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