McNeilus Steel Sees Unprecedented Results in Reducing Claims Following Adoption of SmartDrive Video-based Safety Program

Skipped Pilot, Moved Straight to Rollout, Citing Customer Recommendations and Exceptional SmartDrive Service and Support

SmartDrive Systems, a leader in video-based safety and transportation intelligence, announced McNeilus Steel has deployed the SmartDrive® video-based safety program with SmartDrive 360 and Extended Recording across its entire fleet. Company leadership elected to bypass a pilot program and go directly to rollout, citing enthusiastic recommendations from SmartDrive customers, the value of the SmartDrive fully managed service, outstanding support from the SmartDrive team and the flexibility to customize the program to meet specific needs.

“With nearly 750 employees overall and 120 drivers on staff, we realized that we needed to ensure our safety culture expanded beyond the shop floor,” stated Luke Stenzel, safety director, McNeilus Steel. “Having experienced an increase in incidents, we realized that a video-based safety program would help us ensure our mantra of safety-first is encompassed in all aspects of our company and have already lowered our injury claims by 60%.”

McNeilus Steel is a family-operated company that has been serving the upper Midwest for more than 70 years. A full line metals service center, McNeilus Steel sells and delivers over 4 million pounds of steel products daily by using their fleet of over 130 trucks. As a privately-owned company, protecting brand reputation is vital, and in 2011, McNeilus Steel obtained its ISO9001:2008 certification—reflecting the company’s ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements, and demonstrate continuous improvement. In 2018, to continue improving, all audits were successful in the certification of the ISO9001:2015 standard. McNeilus Steel’s commitment to safety and quality management influenced leadership’s decision to seek a video-based safety solution that could provide the context and peace of mind that safety managers need to reduce risk.

“As we explored options, we quickly determined that the SmartDrive program with SmartDrive 360 and Extended Recording was the ideal solution. It provides insight into our drivers’ riskiest behaviors and helps ensure these valued employees follow standard operating procedures, safeguarding themselves, others and the company,” added Stenzel. “Because of the focus on specific drivers and behaviors, coupled with the intuitive coaching workflows, we have not seen any new events from our riskiest drivers since adopting the SmartDrive program and have experienced an 83% reduction in property damage.”  

SmartDrive 360 provides the additional insights that help McNeilus Steel drivers document loads, know their load is secure and capture information on incidents that occur around them. Providing additional video context, the Extended Recording feature can capture hard-to-get, low impact incidents and informs whether a minor incident occurred or if an incident interrupted a delivery.

“McNeilus Steel recognizes the value of video-based safety and turned to SmartDrive because of our dedicated commitment to our customers and the flexible configuration capabilities of the program,” stated Steve Mitgang, SmartDrive CEO. “The entire McNeilus team accelerated results with the choice to go straight to deployment and have already experienced impressive results.” 

Like many safety professionals today, Stenzel believes video-based safety is a necessary element of the company’s comprehensive approach to safety. He also values the fully managed service, noting it saves safety managers time by focusing on the riskiest drivers and the specific behaviors that require coaching. “We know that, in the next five to ten years, there won’t be any trucks on the road without video. Yes, it’s a big commitment, but fleets just need to do it.”

Learn from other SmartDrive customer how deploying the SmartDrive platform has materially improved safety, exonerated their drivers and saved lives. https://www.smartdrive.net/why-smartdrive/customer-success

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