GreenRoad Technologies announced that Ryder has installed its GreenRoad Safety Center at select company locations. GreenRoad Safety Center provides Ryder with a tool to improve safety performance on the road by reducing collisions and injuries through a positive driver-friendly approach, the company said.
Ryder has been using GreenRoad for about 6 to 8 months, says Sandy Hodes, vice president of safety, health, security and Deputy General Counsel for Ryder. The initial pilot of GreenRoad began with 200 units in about 8 customers locations where Ryder provides dedicated contract carriage. The speed of access to information and the cost of the GreenRoad Safety Center make it a better solution than what is currently available from onboard computing and mobile communications systems, he said.
Out of Ryder’s 168,000 tractor fleet, about 6,000 to 7,000 power units is the target number of vehicles that will eventually use the GreenRoad system, Hodes said.
GreenRoad Safety Center provides drivers with instant feedback while driving, as well as detailed online reporting when returning to their “home” location. By using GreenRoad, Ryder can provide customers full visibility into their drivers’ actual behaviors, at the same time reducing the number of required supervisory on-the-road driver observations. It also enables Ryder to monitor its drivers at remote locations and provide them with immediate and customized coaching.
“We believe that the most effective technology to improve driver safety is the kind that provides consistent, real-time feedback,” said Bob Prim, Director, Safety Standards at Ryder. “Through this feedback, Ryder drivers receive immediate coaching that enables them to instantly modify their behavior.”
“Where we are really seeing the payback is with a lot of our drivers that are remote domiciled,” Hodes said. “These drivers do not tend to see a manager all the time. (With GreenRoad), the ability for a manager to impact driver safety goes up exponentially.”
Safety Center works through a sensor in the vehicle that detects driver skill in five categories of maneuvers: speed, braking, acceleration, lane-handling and turning. Every trip can be viewed on the Web to show overall safety level and detailed information about areas for improvement. Each driver is given a safety rating of green (safe), yellow (moderate) or red (dangerous).
GreenRoad says its clients have reduced collisions by an average of 54 percent, lowered accident costs by an average of 49 percent, and decreased fuel costs by an average of 10 percent.
