How do Safer Drivers Improve the Profitability of the Fleet?
The actions at least one human behind the wheel are most often to blame when there is a vehicle accident. The greatest danger in the employee’s work day is typically that portion of the day spent behind the wheel. Today’s technology is very able to provide the fleet with great insight regarding where risky driving behaviors reside, which drivers and behaviors are exposing us to the most risk and greatest chance of a future accident.
Taking the enablement of risk understanding and converting that to actual improvement in driving behavior, delivers clear and immediate financial benefit to the fleet. And, of course, the insurer is also highly motivated to incentivize that improvement in driving behavior.
Every commercial fleet should place a high priority on creating the safest possible environment by being sure that drivers are not involved in excessive risky driving behaviors. In-vehicle technology, from simple OBD-based GPS solution to high-end AI-oriented cameras, has the ability to identify various components of risky driving behavior. This enables the fleet, through proper feedback and corrective coaching, to improve those at-risk behaviors. The identification of driving risk is the enabling step, the actual improvement in driving behavior through effective coaching and feedback is the key to realizing economic gain.
The purpose of this article is to summarize some of the ways that safer driving creates economic value to the fleet:
1) Improved Insurance position—if self-insured, direct bottom line benefit (less accidents), if insured, beneficial eventual insurance rate consideration and more favorable negotiating position as reflected by improvements over time, of actual loss histories (especially from insurers promoting/incentivizing loss prevention tools)
2) Workman’s comp issues are lessened with less vehicle accidents; vehicle accidents are one of the largest causes of worker’s comp claims
3) “Get home safely”—employees and those other drivers our employees share the road with have a greater probability of getting home safely, unharmed, by driving more safely. Hard to financially quantify but tremendously important
4) Lessen loss of use of vehicles and people caused by accidents, potentially requiring excess resources available to meet service requirements. Assets (vehicles and people) are still being paid for whether in use or not
5) Improved service through maximized availability of resources (people and vehicles), enhanced ability to efficiently service customers, as well as not having to pay for assets that have become temporarily unproductive
6) Vehicle operational efficiency—safer driving leads to longer vehicle life, improved fuel usage, less repair/replacement expenses (brakes, tires, suspension, etc.), lessened breakdowns
7) Improved passenger experience (if passenger carrying), enhanced customer loyalty, superior service differentiation
8) Improved company reputation and image, improved perceived responsibility of company, lessened community complaints regarding behavior of fleet drivers
9) Many contracts, especially for government services, require good standing in government reporting (CSA scores, MVR status)—safer driving equates to improved overall safety scores
10) Lowered requirement for “in shop”/minor repairs, less general wear and tear on vehicle
In summary, less accidents and less risky driving behavior touches almost every operational economic consideration for the commercial fleet
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Accuscore provides the AccuCoach system which is enabled from any existing “driver scorecard” and provides specific corrective advice to drivers and tracking of behavior improvements over time based on that coaching, assisting fleets in the management of the process of correcting identified driving risk