Fleet telematic systems involve plugging a device into the vehicle to collect data on how the vehicle is running and being operated. The data collected can warn you of a breakdown, indicate an unsafe driving event, or even predict how to better utilize the ever-increasing cost of fleet fuel and maintenance. Some insurance carriers are offering discounts after installation while others promise better quoting rates for positive improvement on loss ratios. Should your fleet catch the installation wave?
Pros of telematics
- Employee behavior insights: The loudest support for telematics has always been visibility. Whether your fleet is five salespeople or 1,000 commercial truck drivers, no company has the workforce to place a human monitor in the passenger seat to ensure your employee is operating in a safe way, maximizing the efficiency of fuel use, and track the physical location of the equipment. Telematic systems fill this gap by allowing for review of data and footage in either a live-feed access or event/time-based alert program.
- Proactive risk management: With these insights, an unsafe driver can be identified before a collision occurs. The event-based alerts are created from the most common unsafe driving behaviors that can cause both single- and multi-vehicle accidents. This data is collected from the movement of an internal gyroscope, detecting changes in orientation to a vehicle. Most systems include reporting on harsh braking, turning, and rapid acceleration. Systems with a camera integration also commonly report following to closely, lane integrity violations as well.
- At-fault/blame mitigation: Being able to tell exactly how fast and in what direction a vehicle was traveling can vindicate the driver from being falsely held at-fault for the collision. Being able to prove your driver wasn’t at-fault can shift a potential nuclear verdict lawsuit into a common auto claim. An average commercial truck accident costs $91,000 but ATRI reported the average large verdict size increased from about $5 million in 2017 to over $20 million in 2018.
Cons of telematics
- Liability: Telematics management platforms create safety scores based on frequency and severity, but having the information requires action. A month’s worth of unreviewed harsh braking events immediately before a fatal accident involving the unsafe employee, can assign a “negligent retention” liability to the company.
- Employee apprehension: Telematics, especially cameras, when rolled out for the first time scare employees. Take the time to write out the business plan around the use of the selected tool and how to plainly explain it to the affected employees. Without a clear plan and roll-out, the return on investment of the system will take much longer to develop the desired results.
- Workforce commitment: Upon implementation, a telematics program can immediately be overwhelming as the average driving employee is not trained in defensive driving skills – creating a surplus of alerts to review and coach. On top of the investment of the telematics equipment, the review of these videos frequently requires an existing safety professional to manage the addition of multiple hours of review, coaching, and recordkeeping.
Technology is becoming a major factor in how businesses are run and how they maintain positive business growth. Telematics are going to be a part of the future. A well-thought-out plan results in the strongest return on investment in this product.
