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5 ways to focus on safety with GPS fleet tracking
Learn how fleet management and video telematics can improve driver safety, reduce accidents, and optimize operations.
Read moreThe technology of tomorrow is here today. Dashcams and smart video backed by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are taking off and helping businesses and organizations make impactful changes, especially when integrated with telematics technology.
The potential for smart video technology to have significant safety implications fuels much of the current demand for this technology. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommends that heavy truck and bus fleets use video recorder technology,1 and a Verizon Connect survey found that customers that use telematics solutions saw a decrease in accidents by up to 17%.2
Telematics and video technology: A perfect match for fleets
Safety is paramount for the modern fleet and if you’re like many other businesses, you likely rely on a mobile workforce. As a fleet manager, you can understand how hard it is to get a complete sense of what drivers and vehicles are experiencing on the roads in addition to gathering and analyzing other data points and metrics to help improve efficiency while reducing costs. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), there were approximately 415,000 police-reported crashes in 2020 that involved large trucks, 4,444 of which were fatal.3 But even crashes that are not fatal can lead to business downtime and additional expenses.
An integrated system that seamlessly provides telematics, driver-facing, and road-facing video data in a single platform offers an invaluable depth of knowledge to businesses and organizations. Especially when powered by AI, smart video solutions can automatically classify events by severity and reduce the burden of even more data on fleet owners and managers of situations by only alerting them to events that require immediate attention.
“Verizon Connect has given us the ability to get a firm grasp on our vehicle fleets. We can pull extensive real-time reporting to help ensure safety and combat reckless driving.” – Verizon Connect user
Machine learning using collected data continuously improves its analysis and accuracy of assessments over time, adding to its usefulness over time. Smart video solutions also serve as an unbiased witness, an incomparable driver training tool, and a data goldmine to support advanced analytics efficiency and cost measures.
Adopting the right technology to improve operations
Safety is priority number one, and with safer fleets comes enhanced operations. Using the right technology, allows safety to take precedence, ultimately improving operations at every level. For instance, the use of AI-enabled driver-facing cameras can help reduce the likelihood of accidents by sending audible in-cab alerts for risky behaviors, like tailgating, distracted driving, or driving while drowsy. Furthermore, adding a video component to your GPS solution helps you get the whole story by seeing reliable video evidence alongside fleet data to help protect your fleet against false accident claims, exonerate drivers and reduce unnecessary expenses.
Champion Trucking: Getting ahead with Integrated Video
Champion Trucking, a construction hauling company based in the midwestern United States, faced challenges related to driver safety, accident prevention and accident mitigation. They installed dashcams in a handful of their vehicles as part of a pilot program, since they didn’t want to fully commit until they could evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
It didn’t take long to realize the powerful value that dashcams provide. A few months after installation, the dashcams helped prevent a costly lawsuit by showing that the company’s driver was not at fault in an accident. It’s also provided several coaching opportunities to encourage safe driving behaviors.
Smart video fuels smart business with enhanced visibility
Here are just a few ways that AI video technology can help your fleet organization:
- Protect your investment: One of the most valuable benefits of an AI-enabled, integrated video solution is that it can help businesses and organizations who employ drivers or mobile workers protect their hard-earned reputations without increasing workload. The use of video and telematics data to create a complete picture empowers fleets to protect vehicles, employees, and other drivers on the road while enabling them to effectively address false liability claims.
- Reinforce trust and boost confidence: It’s common to hear objections about technology that collects data or tracks movement, but smart technology can increase trust within your organization if implemented and messaged well. Suspicion is exacerbated by a lack of information, so take every opportunity to establish trust and cooperation from the start by providing access to live demos and having candid conversations with all employees to promote the benefits of video technology.
- Use facts over assumption in coaching: Businesses and organizations using telematics already have a leg up on driver coaching, but video technology enhances coaching efforts by providing real context around areas for improvement. Use data about an event, such as speed and routes driven, with actual footage for customized and more effective driver coaching and safety programs. Driver-facing cameras can also help provide visual clarity around distracted driving behaviors—helping managers determine what negative behaviors are most pervasive within the fleet and proactively correct them.
For an in-depth dive into the benefits of fleet video, and to learn more about how it can transform your safety strategy, schedule an online demo or download your copy of this free eBrief today.
1https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SR1501.pdf
2https://www.verizonconnect.com/resources/ebook/fleet-technology-trends-report/