Opinion: Technology Helps Fleets Improve Safety

By Tom Kretsinger Jr.

CEO

American Central Transport

Last month, I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to talk to Congress on behalf of the trucking industry and American Trucking Associations about our industry’s impressive safety record.

I was able to tell them about how our industry is safer — to the tune of a 38% lower fatality rate — and how we intend to do more to continue that improvement. I talked about reducing speeds and the need for the government to do more to address driver behaviors. And I talked a great deal about technology.

Electronic logging devices and speed limiters are promising pieces of technology that not only will make our industry

safer, they will soon be required, which we at ATA believe is

a good thing.

Another good thing for safety would be encouraging fleets to do the right thing — to invest in safety voluntarily.

At American Central Transport, we made such an investment in video event recorders, and I believe this technology not only will help our industry take greater strides toward improving safety but will help protect fleets in the courtroom.

I understand that the idea of a video device recording all of a driver’s actions might make some uncomfortable, but allow me to tell you what these relatively inexpensive devices actually do. Actually, it is right there in the name: They record events such as hard braking, collisions and lane deviations — and they capture the eight seconds leading up to and the four seconds after whatever caused the event.

This video is then sent to our safety department and to the driver so they can review it, and wouldn’t you know, those reviews show that, for the most part, our driver is not the one at fault. This, of course, lines up with all the data we have on truck crashes, which tell us that the vast majority of crash-

es are caused by someone other than the professional

truck driver.

These small snippets of video typically add up to less than three minutes of tape per month, and our best drivers go months without a triggering event. When our drivers see these devices in action, even the most skeptical become vocal advocates for the technology.

But just having the video isn’t enough. We also provide coaching, using these clips and analyzing them to improve our skills. Professional athletes often talk about going to look at films to prepare for big games. Well, delivering goods safely is our big game, and we play every day. So we look at analytics and see that these events are scored based on severity and frequency, giving us a clear picture of drivers most likely to have a wreck and are identified for additional training.

For example, we had one driver cut his recorded events from 40 per month to zero: That’s right, zero. Without use of the video, we may have had to terminate him — either immediately or at some future date — based on violations; or scores from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program; or, God forbid, he had a catastrophic crash. This technology saved his job and saved our company.

And that’s just one driver. We’re seeing results across our fleet as well. As we rolled out the technology, we have seen a 64% reduction in both event frequency and severity. In layman’s terms, our drivers are performing better because of this technology.

So these results show the obvious benefits of event recorders, but there is another less obvious benefit: These recorders protect us in court.

What we’re able to do after a crash is point to the video in court and say, “Our driver wasn’t at fault,” and back that up with more than just he said, she said. The video provides clear visual evidence of who is at fault.

I’m an attorney, so believe me when I tell you that evidence like the images captured by these recorders is invaluable in mounting a defense. This technology already has exonerated some of our drivers in the face of false claims from others and helped protect our company.

I’ve been so impressed that, by the end of this year, all our trucks will have these recorders, and all our drivers will have the training and coaching that go with them.

Technology is not a silver bullet for truck safety, but technology combined with experience and good training can do wonders to continue improving our industry’s already impressive record of safety.

American Central Transport, based in Liberty, Missouri, is a dry van, over-the-road carrier, providing premium service throughout the Midwest, Southeast and Rust Belt.