Opinion: Active Surveillance Can Be Tricky

By Ryan McDonald
President
IsMyDrivingSafe.com Inc.

This Opinion piece appears in the Nov. 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Many carriers are still using those “How’s my driving?” decals featuring an 800 number the public can call to report a driver they consider unsafe. Unfortunately, this technique is only as credible as the person phoning to report an offending vehicle. In fact, many carrier safety directors dub these reports “noncredible observations.”

However, this is the age of information technology and now there are service providers that will seek out your vehicles on the road and check them out, using a network of trained observers. Ideally, these observer networks should include experienced law enforcement officers and motor carrier safety managers trained in road safety, traffic enforcement and covert surveillance. They generally perform speed and following-distance readings and describe any other issues or driving infractions they observe being done by a carrier’s drivers.

The stakes are high: Driver accidents, speeding, tailgating and other aggressive driving behavior can mean significantly higher insurance premiums.

Carriers that adopt active surveillance of drivers — instead of passively waiting for someone to phone the number on the decal — usually experience reductions in speeding incidents and accidents significant enough to translate into reduced insurance premiums and Inspection Selection System ratings.

One trucking company with 2,300 tractors reported it had reduced its ISS ratings “drastically,” identified governors that had been tampered with, and cut large claims by 80%.

However, since these updated “How’s my driving?” programs involve the tricky area of active surveillance, carriers should be very careful about choosing a service provider. Here are some questions to ask:

• Are the provider’s driver-observation monitors credible and neutral, with no stake in the outcome of the report? That will help ensure reporting reliability. By using a service provider who, in turn, uses monitoring agents, there is no bias or favoritism, and therefore no incentive for the agent to “catch” a driver in the act of driving poorly. Agents generally are paid on a per-report basis, whether the findings are positive or negative.

• Are the monitors all active or retired law enforcement officers, motor carrier safety managers or private investigators? That’s important, because they will have been professionally trained to perform traffic and safety observations and will be far more effective and believable than those without their credentials.

• How does the provider find and recruit agents with the right credentials? Recruitment should be a long, thorough process. Law enforcement periodicals and Web sites can be good places to find and recruit the best-qualified candidates. Potential monitors should be required to submit a resume detailing their experience in law enforcement, traffic enforcement, surveillance and any other special skills relating to the trucking industry.

• Does the provider maintain a comprehensive database listing each agent’s training and certifications? The information available should include an agent’s expertise in areas such as speed detection carried out using laser, radar, Global Positioning System, pacing or similar means. Other training should include court-certified speed, basic traffic, defensive driving, DOT safety, accident reconstruction and more.

• What is the extent of the provider’s coverage? National carriers will need national monitoring services. Some companies put their safety managers in the field to perform observations in the same locations — usually terminal to terminal — but an outside provider can perform reports nationwide without the added expense of a vehicle, fuel, insurance and mileage. It is generally far less expensive to pay per observation than to send your safety managers out on the highways.

• How large is the provider’s network of active agents nationwide (or at least in their service area), who can perform observations any time of the day, any day of the week?

• How fast are reports submitted? Ideally, agents should submit their reports electronically and do it within 24 to 48 hours. Even a less comprehensive provider should be able to submit reports no later than four days after the observation. Safety managers will want to discuss the report with their drivers while the event is still fresh in their minds.

Corporate safety directors have reported that when a negative report is being discussed with the driver involved, nine out of 10 times that driver will recall the time, place and even the vehicle involved, allowing safety personnel to walk through the situation and recommend preventive procedures.

• What surveillance methods does the provider use? Agents should observe drivers in a random and inconspicuous manner over a minimum distance of five miles and five minutes, noting the date, exact time, driver’s speed, following distance, erratic driving, road conditions and other relevant factors. By performing multiple following-distance and speed checks over an extended time, driving patterns become apparent and the driver can be prevented from using the defense: “You caught me in a bad spot.”

Using a provider that offers direct observation services nationwide, or in a carrier’s specific area of operation, is a cost-effective, proactive method of dealing with a safety need too often left to those passive, credibility-suspect “How’s my driving?” decals. They provide data that will help protect the company, its drivers, its bottom line — and the public.

IsMyDrivingSafe.com Inc. has headquarters in Tampa, Fla., and provides random, secret surveillance for trucking companies nationwide.