Roadsafe, a forum for promoting solutions to road safety problems, recently reported that almost nine in ten vehicle fleets (86%) have experienced an accident in the past twelve months. Organisations operating large vehicle fleets have a duty of care to ensure that they provide their drivers with the equipment and conditions they need to operate safely and efficiently. They must therefore look to prioritise driver safety and leverage the tools and technologies available to mitigate driver risk and promote a safe driving culture.
Leveraging technology to manage driver behaviour
Traditional in-vehicle driver safety solutions have proven successful in helping fleet and field service organisations to monitor and manage driver behaviour, to directly reduce accident rates, cut vehicle downtime, prevent loss in productivity due to road incidences and, as a result, maintain brand image through safer driving.
Once deployed, real time alerts are offered to the driver as well as being sent to the back office for analysis. With this data at hand, drivers can instantly change their driving style and recommendations on training can be made for individual drivers, resulting in lower accidents and liability therefore helping to manage the risks associated with work-related driving.
Fostering true business intelligence through extended capabilities
Many organisations are extending the capabilities of their driver safety solutions further today through the use of performance management analytics tools. These tools are capable of consolidating driver data across a large workforce to provide fleet managers with advanced business intelligence. Reporting and performance reports can be generated that specifically spot trends and manage by exception.
Trimble’s performance management analytics capability helped Indesit UK to identify areas for driver improvement from the information it was gathering from its fleet. A trend of excessive vehicle idling as well as drivers recording high RPM rates, due to the use of inefficient gears, was recorded. Once drivers were informed of their most needed improvement areas and trained on how to achieve them, Indesit realised a development in overall fleet performance. Vehicle idling reduced, RPM rates dropped and an increase in more efficient driving across the fleet, indicated by improved Driver Safety scores, was realised.
Mobility solutions a major influence on driver safety
Bespoke mobile apps for monitoring driver performance are fast making a big impact on the fleet and field service industry. The technology offers drivers themselves the ability to monitor their driving behaviour by getting data from the vehicle sent to their smartphone. Such an app will pick up on key ‘events’ such as braking, acceleration, speeding and turning and will judge the manoeuvre as being acceptable, moderate or hard. For the driver, having the intelligence of how they are performing at their fingertips greatly increases their road awareness and empowers them to make immediate improvements to be a better, safer driver. For the business, it can benefit from mitigated risk, a reduction in accidents and boast a safer workforce out on the road.
For more information on how Trimble can help you to protect your drivers on the go, visit our Driver Safety Information Centre, here http://ow.ly/MwR1S
The author is John Cameron, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management (FSM), where he is responsible for worldwide operations and development.
