Impact of In-Cab Event Recorders in the Waste Industry
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Driver Safety
Unless yoU’ve been living Under a rock, yoU
know that texting and the use o cellular phones while
driving is big news. In act, as a result o the recent
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) study and
the news it garnered, Secretary o Transportation Ray
LaHood, held a Distracted Driving Summit. In planning
the meeting, Secretary LaHood said, “I it were up tome, I would ban drivers rom texting, but unortunately,
laws aren’t always enough. We’ve learned rom past
saety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated
strategy combining education and enorcement to get
results.” Added Secretary LaHood, “The bottom line
is … distracted driving is dangerous
driving.”
Prior to releasing the cellular phone study, VTTI
released another study evaluating onboard saety
monitoring devices in commercial vehicle operations.
Funded by the Federal Motor Carriers Saety
Administration (FMCSA), this study was created
to help determine i an onboard saety monitoring
device actually reduces risky driving events involvingbehaviors such as texting and the use o cellular
phones, ollowing too close, trac violations, as well
as other unsae activities. The result o such behaviors,
ultimately, is abrupt braking, swerving or collisions.
The results o the study showed that the number o
risky driving events ell by 37 percent in the rst feet
and 52.2 percent in the second feet or those vehicles
running the a driver risk management program.
Why Programs Succeed … or FailDistracted driving, drowsy driving and just plain
poor driving habits lead to risky driving and possible
collisions. So how do you correct these problems?
Why do some driving saety programs succeed, while
others do not? It all comes down to eective risk
identication and coaching with the proper tools.
• Effective risk identication—Fleet operators must
have the means to identiy risky driving on an on-
going basis. In-cab event recorders are ideal tools tocapture, on an exception basis, instances where drivers
have passed the thresholds o sae driving.
• Coaching with the proper tools—Driver coaching
is an important ollowup activity once
concerning driving has been identied,
but the coach needs to have the tools to
succeed at modiying behavior. One o
the challenges is that when it comes to
driving, just about every driver thinks
they are good. In act, a recent survey
ound that 78 percent o drivers surveyed
Impact of In-Cab EventRecorders in the Waste Industry| Del Lisk |
38 WasteAdvantage Magazine January 2010
To reduce risky drivingin your fleeT, you need
To know what yourdrivers are doing
behind the wheel.once you do know,coach them to drivebetter.
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rated themselves as at least above-average drivers; yet this same group only
rated 9 percent o other drivers as better than average.1
So, when coaching, how do you convince a driver that he needs to change?
The key is the video. With this objective, visual evidence, coaches can quickly
move past any debate about what really happened and instead ocus on what
needs to change to reduce risk in the uture.It’s important to understand that behavioral saety programs are advantageous
because they are easy to implement, easy to teach and can be implemented
in the setting where the problem occurs. Behavioral saety programs have
been successully used to increase saety-related work behaviors in a variety
o organizational settings. In a review o 53 occupational saety and health
studies covering various saety approaches, it was ound that behavioral saety
approaches had the highest average reduction in injury rate (59.6 percent).
However, almost all prior behavioral saety research has been applied in
work settings where employees can systematically observe the sae versus at-risk behavior o their coworkers. In contrast, truck and bus drivers work alone
in relative isolation and thus require alternative strategies. Until recently,
the primary problem has been getting quality behavioral data on driving
behaviors. I behavioral approaches can be integrated with technologies that
monitor driver behavior, feet saety managers would have an eective tool
or improving saety-related behaviors that occur when there is little or no
opportunity or interpersonal observation and eedback.
The VTTI/FMCSA study reerenced earlier involved 100 trucks—both longhaul and short haul—over a 17-week period. During the our-week baseline
phase, the event recorder recorded saety-related events. However, the eedback
light on the event recorder was disabled and saety managers did not have
access to the recorded critical incidents to provide eedback to drivers. During
the 13-week intervention phase, the eedback light on the event recorder was
activated and saety managers had access to the recorded saety-related events
(ollowing the coaching protocol with drivers).
Lessons LearnedAlthough both companies had a strong commitment to saety, each
was surprised to nd a signicant gap in what they thought and what was
impt f i-c et r th Wt iut
40 WasteAdvantage Magazine January 2010
dcam’ -ab mt tm.Pht t dcam.
F m m iify iky ii -i i.
In-cab event recorders are Ideal tools to capture, on an exceptIon
basIs, Instances where drIvers have passed the thresholds oF saFedrIvIng.
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WasteAdvantage Magazine January 2010 41
revealed through their involvement in the program. This is
because, previously, they had little insight into what really was
happening out on the road. What they ound out was that driversare not as good as they thought. This is simply to say that they
were surprised to nd several drivers with common driving faws,
such as ollowing too close, reluctance to wear a seatbelt or using
a cell phone in violation o policy. The company soon realized that
there was more work to be done to make their feet saer. Company
commitment is key. Now that the organization had greater insight
into what risks really existed out on the road, was the company
committed to do something about it? Were they willing to coach,
adjust their training ocus and reinorce policies to ensure behaviormodication occurred, etc.?
Executive sponsorship is paramount. Although it is becoming
more commonplace, the placement o video recording devices in
trucks is still new to most feets and, hence, a cultural change.
It’s essential to have support rom leadership to overcome the
challenges and barriers to the eective application o the program i the
company wants it to be successul.
Despite the challenges listed previously, “Both carriers (long-haul and
short-haul) signicantly reduced the mean requency o recorded events/
miles traveled rom baseline to intervention,” commented Je Hickman, LeadResearcher, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. “The results prove that
the combination o onboard saety monitoring and behavioral coaching were
responsible or the signicant reduction in the mean requency o events/miles
traveled at both carriers.”
COACH Your Way to SuccessWhat are some keys to a having a successul program using this technology?
Think o the word C-O-A-C-H:
C Level or other high-level ongoing support from high levels within your organization
• Gain high-level support for the program before launch.
• Once the program is launched, maintain the support of your high-level
advocate(s) by providing this person with ongoing reports demonstrating
its success.
O pen communication with employees before and after the program is launched
• The program must be properly explained to employees prior to launch to
eliminate misconceptions and unounded concerns.
• Constantly reinforce the program through coaching, safety meetings and
newsletters
A pplication of the process must be consistent and constant
• Roles and responsibilities should be clearly dened.
• Don’t get complacent about coaching. Constant application will bring
continuous improvement.
• Be sure the program is properly staffed in case of vacation, illness or job
change.
Clear set of consequences
• Violations of driving expectations must be addressed with coaching orother consequences.
• Violations of company policy should be followed through per your
organization’s already existing plan. The program is just an additional tool
to monitor compliance; no new policies are needed.
• High achievers in the program should be acknowledged and rewarded.
H ave a system in place to monitor and evaluate the performance of the managers
entrusted with applying the program
• Program managers should have a stake in the success or failure of the
program. Reports tracking key activities such as system health, coaching
and reduction in risky events should be requently monitored and directed
to high levels in management.
To reduce risky driving in your feet, you need to know what your drivers
are doing behind the wheel. Once you do know, coach them to drive better. By
having a consistent program across your feet, you’ll begin to see results that
not only reduce the number o collisions across your feet, but also reduce your
company’s claims costs. | WA
Del Lisk serves as vice president of safety services for DriveCam Inc. (San Diego,
CA). In this role, he is responsible for developing safety policy and procedures and overseeing training for DriveCam’s eet customers. His duties include administering
the DriveCam Certication Program and directing the DriveCam Academy. Prior to
joining DriveCam, Del spent 21 years with Smith System Driver Improvement Institute,
a leader in professional driver training. Most recently, he served six years as company
president. While at Smith Systems, Del developed eet safety programs and personally
delivered training to more than 10,000 eet drivers. He can be reached at (866) 419-
5861, via e-mail at [email protected] or visit www.drivecam.com.
Notes
1. DriveCam Survey o 350 DriveCam Academy participants.
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©2010 Wat Aata Maaz, A rht r.rpt m Wat Aata Maaz.ctt at b pt wtht pm m th pbh.