Using telematics to improve driver performance in the construction industry

Tarafından gönderildi: UBI Telematics Kategori: Kullanıma Bağlı Sigorta (UBI)

As the economy continues to recover, an increase in the frequency and severity of commercial vehicle crashes has prevented construction and other companies from fully profiting from the turnaround.

There are many reasons why severity is increasing, including more miles driven, a shortage of experienced drivers, and distracted driving.  The pressure to hire more drivers, more quickly, can soon drive up auto exposures.

The cost of crashes is also rising. From 2012 to 2015, auto loss costs increased a cumulative 20 percent, according to the Insurance Services Office. Driving these costs are medical care expenses, which now outpace the Consumer Price Index, along with higher bodily injury and property damage payments.

To help protect employees, the public and bottom lines, many construction companies are turning to their telematics systems, which were originally installed to help manage maintenance, fuel and theft recovery.

There are a wide range of new services that insurers might offer to both personal and commercial lines customers based…

However, using telematics data to improve driving behaviors and overall fleet safety must be approached methodically and with an eye toward identifying the root causes of unsafe driving. Otherwise, management misses a perfect opportunity to prevent crashes, reduce claims, and lower the company’s total cost of risk.

Here’s an overview of the recommendations Liberty Mutual Insurance provides its construction customers to make sure they’re taking full advantage of their telematics investment.

These recommendations were presented in the Using Telematics to Improve Fleet Safety session at the 2016 IRMI Construction Risk Conference.  More information on Liberty Mutual’s approach to using telematics to improve fleet safety is available in its Managing Vital Driver Performance online resource.

Set the right parameters

Data from telematics systems can be used to score and rank drivers based on the number of events — such as speeding, dangerous cornering, harsh acceleration, and hard braking — recorded during their time behind the wheel.

The fleet owner sets the system’s parameters so that it records and reports key events that deviate from the company’s expectations or posted speed limits. The parameters should vary according to the type of business. For example, companies often will have a lower tolerance for exceeding posted speed limits with larger vehicles or more valuable loads.

Understand the scores

Rather than looking at each event, management should consider a driver’s overall performance, for example, the number of events per 100 miles driven.

Correctly understanding the system’s scoring and reporting methods are critical to properly interpreting the drivers’ scores. For instance, is each driver’s performance scored in relation to a company-wide standard, or in relation to other drivers? If it’s the latter, a company could end up with a fleet of highly rated unsafe drivers, a potential huge exposure.

Liberty Mutual recommends evaluating each driver’s performance against the median, rather than the average. The problem is that a few bad performers can drive up the average event rate, leaving mediocre drivers looking like excellent performers.

The company’s satisfaction with its safety performance can dictate how often it reviews its scorecards. A company concerned about a particular driver or two might review their scorecards weekly or even daily, while a company generally satisfied with its drivers might review scorecards monthly.

bulldozers

By understanding that the behaviors that cause crashes are merely symptoms of more foundational problems, management can eliminate the factors that ultimately lead to accidents and higher claims costs. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, file)

Identify and eliminate the root cause

Setting the right parameters and interpreting telematics scores helps management reach its ultimate goal: identifying the root causes of unsafe driving behaviors. While driver errors cause crashes, the question that’s going to really help a company reduce its auto exposures and lower its total cost of risk, is, what’s causing those errors?

Many companies use their telematics data to approach a driver about poor performance. A supervisor might issue a warning or require the driver to receive additional training. Liberty Mutual works with customers to help them conduct a root cause analysis that uncovers what’s leading to the unsafe driving behaviors, and then create an action plan to reduce or eliminate those factors.

This process is set in motion by a multipage root cause analysis document. While parts of the document can be completed without the driver, most sections are intended to lead a discussion between the supervisor and driver.

The supervisor spells out the event or events that are concerning, records the driver’s view of those events, and then reviews a number of questions and checklists that help uncover the root cause of the unsafe driving behavior.

When determining the cause of poor driving performance, it’s often too easy to blame the driver. So, one section of the root cause analysis asks questions that focus on whether the cause of the driver’s behavior is organizational, that is, the result of company requirements and expectations.

  • Is the route properly designed?
  • Is too much expected of the driver in a single shift, leading to fatigue?
  • Are drivers compensated in a way that rewards aggressive driving and other unsafe behaviors?

There are also questions that relate to the driver’s responsibilities outside of work. For example, does the driver have a second job that may be contributing to fatigue or lack of attention behind the wheel?

Once the cause of unsafe driving behavior is identified, the supervisor and driver can create an action plan to eliminate it. For example, perhaps the driver’s route has gained a new customer that’s consistently unprepared to receive its delivery, resulting in the driver speeding to the next stop.

Related: How driving habits are changing the auto insurance industry

The action plan might include a call from management to the customer, asking if anything can be done to make sure deliveries are promptly unloaded. This will help the driver complete the route on time, eliminating the incentive to speed or engage in other aggressive driving.

By understanding that the behaviors that cause crashes are merely symptoms of more foundational problems, management can eliminate the factors that ultimately lead to accidents and higher claims costs.

See the bigger picture

One of the most effective ways a construction company can help reduce vehicle crashes and claims is to work with its broker and insurer to understand what’s causing accidents and then build a holistic program to address those issues.

Such a program should reassess every driving-related process – from driver selection standards through training – to identify the root causes of unsafe driving. The resulting improvements in fleet safety can help any company get its fair share of the economic recovery.

Selecting a telematics vendor

 

  • Identify vendors that can meet your needs and objectives.
  • Review sample reports to confirm you can use them to conduct driving performance discussions.
  • Make sure the system won’t overwhelm you with unnecessary data, but rather provide you with actionable information.
  • Review the scorecards that report aggressive events.
  • Consider vendors that let you test the product with your fleet before buying.

Read more at http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2016/11/10/using-telematics-to-improve-driver-performance-in?page_all=1

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