New data from video telematics provider Teletrac Navman reveals that fleets who properly prepare their drivers for how the company uses safety technologies have better buy-in and more a more effective safety program.
Teletrac Navman's new study found that drivers who felt well-prepared were three times more likely to rate their coaching solution as highly effective (74%) compared to those whose preparation was lacking (19%). While safety tech onboarding is fairly widespread across the industry, 1 in 5 drivers reported technology being installed with little or no communication from management.
Unclear data-use policies make surveillance the top concern for almost half (45%) of drivers surveyed. Almost a third (30%) said that clear evidence demonstrating that technology is used to protect them, not just watch them, would actively encourage them to stay with their current employer. Additionally, driver confidence improves significantly when they have clear data visibility, the report found.
It's also important for fleets to provide recognition for good driving. According to the report's findings, recognition remains a primary retention motivator, with 37% of drivers citing it as a factor for staying with an employer. However, a significant gap exists. While 99% of drivers receive feedback, only 51% report getting positive recognition, while 32% experience disciplinary action.
This week's 10-44 dives into those and more insights from Teletrac Navman's new report.
Contents of this video
00:00 10-44 Intro
00:41 Teletrac Navman Survey
02:10 Tackling Privacy Concerns & Data Transparency
04:36 Rewarding and Recognizing Good Performance
05:17 Near Misses and Real-time Feedback
06:19 Video & Data Improves Training & Coaching Effectiveness
07:52 Prioritizing Onboarding, Providing Real-time Feedback & Positive Reinforcement
Matt Cole:
What truck drivers say about in-cab safety tech and how fleets can improve driver buy-in.
Jason Cannon:
Hey everybody. Welcome back. I'm Jason Cannon and my co-host is Matt Culp. Trucks on the road today are filled with all sorts of safety technologies, whether they're baked in from the factory or added after the fact by fleets to help monitor drivers' behaviors behind the wheel and provide coaching whenever it's needed.
Matt Cole:
The training provided as a result of those in-cab technologies, however, isn't always effective and it's not necessarily the driver's fault. New research from telematics and safety tech provider Teletrac Navman found that tech-enabled coaching is far more effective when drivers are properly onboarded about how the tech works.
Carlos Caponera:
This is part of our mobilizing the future fleets report. We do on a quarterly basis, we go out and survey fleet managers, safety managers across the globe. And the purpose is really to get their insights and information to understand really what's affecting their business, what's affecting the drivers, different changes in transport and logistics, so we get a comprehensive view of what's happening across the board. So this quarter report was around driver safety and overall what is the driver behavior that's happening out there, and in particular with the technology that's being implemented and adopted by fleets around the globe. One of the things we found in the survey is onboarding is probably the most critical step into introducing camera technology into a fleet. Whether it's already existing, you're bringing in new drivers or you are bringing in a whole new technology stack into the vehicles. The onboarding aspect of it is critical.
What we found through the survey is that 68% of drivers got some form of onboarding and in that 75% rate that their coaching solution is highly effective. So not everyone has a comprehensive onboarding program that we're seeing and out of that, it's not reaching the level of training and information that drivers are seeking out.
Jason Cannon:
Carlos says there are a few ways fleets can improve the onboarding process, including how to address drivers' concerns over privacy.
Carlos Caponera:
Well, it's really the rollout of the onboarding. So the technical training's one, but really having a clear understanding of the policies and really being transparent into why you're bringing that technology into it. A lot of drivers that we surveyed in this round said that they really didn't have, I think it was 30% of drivers said that there wasn't really any clear evidence in their onboarding and training that showed them why they're implementing a video telematics safety program. What does that mean for them? So it's really about trust. That is really the retention lever. It's not just about compliance, it's that transparency and trust factor that happens during training by safety managers or operational managers to their drivers that really makes a big difference on how engaged the drivers will be out in the field using the technology. We're seeing in the survey 45% of drivers, their biggest concern was that unclear use of data.
How's it being used? Is it being used not only for training, but is it being shared? Is it being sent to other groups all the way out to insurance carriers, for example? So that clear, again, goes back to onboarding, really indicating and being transparent as to how the data is being used, why monitoring is needed, and really getting that transparency through on how the data is processed, managed and used to affect the drivers needs to be done early on into the engagement in order to be successful.
Matt Cole:
Teletrac Navman's survey also found that it's important that fleets not only provide coaching when poor driving behaviors are observed, but also to reward and recognize good performance. We'll hear more about that after a word from 1044 sponsor, Chevron Lubricants.
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Carlos Caponera:
Again, it's about really applying a level of trust in really the training and evaluation of drivers. So when it comes to really reviewing the videos and giving feedback, this is a big opportunity for fleet and safety managers. Our drivers that were surveyed stated that 30% said that clear evidence that the technology protects them, not just watches them is critical. So they still believe to this day that it's just a monitoring tool rather than a training tool support tool to improve their overall driving behavior and their driving techniques, how they get out in the road and what they're looking for.
Jason Cannon:
The survey also found that drivers are less likely to experience a near miss out on the highway when they receive real-time feedback from the technology rather than receiving a report days later.
Carlos Caponera:
Yeah, real-time alerts do make a major difference out there on the road. So what we found through the survey is that real-time alert, and really it's really real-time coaching in cab, it helps a lot in preventing collisions. We see when real-time alerts are included, almost one in five drivers avoid or see fewer near misses. So it does have an effect instead of waiting for that end of week training session or video review with the manager, real-time really does help. What we've seen in the past is it keeps them alert, keeps them active, and in some cases, near misses are from fatigue or tiredness. So when you get that alert in cab, really kind of re-centers you and gets you to focus back. And in some cases, it's the need to pull over, take a rest, take a break, so that's critical for driver safety out there.
Matt Cole:
When fleets do provide training and coaching to drivers, including video and data in that training improves its effectiveness.
Carlos Caponera:
It makes a big difference. I think in the early days of telematics, it was more reviewing the software and the playback on a screen and on a map. What was missed back then was defensive driver techniques, right? Your manager's not in the cab with you at all times. And during those days, a near miss would almost constantly be blamed or even an accident would be blamed on the driver themselves versus what had happened on the road. Nowadays, having that video not only exonerates in some cases from being judged or being at fault. So there's an exoneration play, there's an insurance play, so you're able to lower your insurance rates by having that video evidence. But really when it comes to training, we're seeing the shift going from kind of a negative training scenario where it's all negative feedback, you did this wrong or you didn't do this right, to more of a positive feedback.
We're seeing it's still small number, but we expect that to grow. About 51% of drivers that were surveyed did have positive experiences in their feedback, but we're still seeing one out of three say that it's all negative all the time. So there's some work to be done here on the training and coaching of driver performance, which we're expecting to improve. And again, there's a lot of support being placed on drivers in terms of that positive reinforcement versus the negative reinforcement scenario.
Jason Cannon:
The biggest takeaways for fleets are to prioritize onboarding, providing real-time feedback and providing positive reinforcement.
Carlos Caponera:
So the advice I'd give any fleet operator in rolling out any type of safety program, in particular a video telematics safety solution, would be first invest the time in getting your onboarding right. While this technology runs on its own, it's really a one where we need to be putting in a lot more time and investment into onboarding, training, transparency, so building the data transparency starting from day one is critical. We shouldn't wait for the trust problem to introduce itself. We really should be upfront and clear as you're rolling out the new solution. I would also say you need to prioritize real-time feedback. So that is where a lot of the safety perspective takes place. Don't wait till the end of the week. Bad driving behavior shouldn't wait and positive reinforcement should also not wait. That is one where it's a clear indicator that that positive reinforcement does help.
And finally, I would say treat that recognition as seriously as correction. So again, the positive reinforcement makes a big difference for those out there on the road for long hours. It really just makes the environment, the culture, and just the sentiment so much better when it's a positive environment versus one where it's negative.
Jason Cannon:
That's it for this week's 1044. You can read more on ccjdigital.com. While you're there, sign up for our newsletter and stay up to date on the latest in trucking industry news and trends. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell for notifications so you can catch us again next week.
