Category: News

Drivers, coaches both face learning curves with in-cab video systems

For Central Oregon Truck Company, truck drivers know the external-facing camera from SmartDrive in their tractor always remains active in case another vehicle damages the tractor-trailer while it is parked. However, the internal camera is shut off, and a lens cap is provided as an additional level of privacy.

Related: Fleets expand use of in-cab video for driver training, accident prevention

Privacy protection extends beyond the recording. Coaches Denny Kalista and Brad Aimone said they are careful not to discuss or review videos in the presence of anyone else, and individual videos are not used in a demonstration with other drivers unless permission is given.

Pete Allen, chief client officer with MiX Telematics, said it is important that drivers be made aware of the events that would trigger a camera.

When a recording event does take place, Central Oregon coaches receive an immediate alert, while SmartDrive processes and tags the video to streamline the review process.

Phil Taylor, Central Oregon’s vice president of maintenance, said these video reviews often give drivers a better appreciation of how the investment in telematics and safety technologies are aiding them on the road.

Likewise, Luke Williams, director of operations, pointed to a clear correlation between the drivers captured most often by the cameras and struggling in other performance metrics, such as fuel efficiency and total miles.

Implementing a video system into a fleet’s operations is not without its challenges. “There is as much a learning curve for coaches as [for drivers] out there in the field,” said Aimone.

He and Kalista are competitive, closely monitoring the percentage of videos they have reviewed with drivers. They also stressed the way coaches interact with individual personalities can go a long way toward making a lasting change.

Kalista said the customized reports allow them to get a quick glance at performance trends. That’s also part of the coaches’ competition — pushing each other to see who has helped improve the scores of their drivers each week.

Photo: SmartDrive

During practice runs with prospective drivers at Central Oregon, coaches record turns and stops. They can create a recording by pressing a button on a remote control from 10 seconds prior to 10 seconds after it is pushed. They are attacking what statistics indicate are the high percentage of minor accidents that could be prevented through greater use of mirrors, less speeding, and better judgment.

At its user conference in San Diego earlier this year, Lytx shared that it had captured 16 million behaviors in 2017 that resulted in more than four million coaching events. The conference offered the hundreds of attendees the latest trends on what days of the week and times of day led to a higher percentage of incidents. Lytx also offered a sector-by-sector breakdown to help fleets zero in on the latest trends.

MiX’s Allen said “there is not a downside” to using video, and expanded use can include providing drivers with a 360-degree view around a truck.

Abbott pointed out that it can help investigate worker’s compensation claims involving on-the-job injuries that did not have any witnesses.

Use of video systems can cut into insurance premiums and leads to the subrogation of insurance claims. Even when video confirms the truck driver was at fault, there still can be an advantage in reaching a faster settlement, Allen said.

Central Oregon’s Williams did acknowledge the use of video has resulted in fewer total applicants to fill open driver positions. However, he said some drivers are simply not cut out for video use.

“They do not have the right attitude for who we are as a company,” he stressed.

Drivers at Central Oregon Truck Co. meet with coaches to ensure success

SmartDrive Technology Fleets expand use of in-cab video for driver training, accident prevention

A visit to the headquarters and terminal of Central Oregon Truck Company makes it easy to understand why the Truckload Carriers Asso­ciation named it a “2018 Best Fleet to Drive For.” The 300 drivers have access to on-site dormitories, a gym, café, business center, and private bathrooms with showers professionally cleaned after every use. There is a 401K plan and an employee stock purchase through Daseke Inc.

In the view of CEO Rick Williams, that comes with the responsibility of being a professional. And just as an NFL quarterback reviews film with coaches after games, a similar process plays out every day at Central Oregon.

The company made the decision two years ago to install the SmartDrive video safety system across its fleet of 315 Kenworth trucks. It is used as a training tool, a way to exonerate drivers if falsely accused of an accident, and to help make decisions when they are in the wrong.

“If we do something wrong, we need to have that responsibility,” Williams said.

At Central Oregon, five coaches, led by Denny Kalista and Brad Aimone, are tasked with reviewing the videos, which are triggered by predetermined infractions. They then speak with that person to dissect what happened. It’s a relationship that begins even before a driver hauls the first load. This is part of the orientation process and allows coaches to correct potential problems before they form. It gives what Central Oregon considers a “more holistic” view of driver performance and, if needed, accident recreation.

“Every driver develops bad habits over time,” Williams said. “You can become complacent. This brings it to the forefront.”

Photo: SmartDrive

Rick Williams

Central Oregon is just one example of the growing number of trucking fleets that are bringing video into the fold.

In 2016, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended heavy truck and bus fleets use video recorder technology. It came after a study of more than 10,000 crashes estimated video could reduce fatal and injury crashes by 20% and 35%, respectively.

The price tag of these accidents adds up. The average cost is $11 million for a fatal accident, $500,000 for ones with injuries, and $75,000 for incidents that caused damage. In addition, out-of-cost settlements average $280,000—and often can be higher. Beyond the financial hit, accidents damage public perception and employee morale—and could also cost the trucker a job.

With so much at stake, it is little surprise that research firm Frost & Sullivan projects annual growth of more than 22%, bringing the number of vehicles with video-based systems to over one million by 2020.

Rob Abbott, commercial leader of enterprise trucking for Lytx, maker of the DriveCam video system, said a fleet trial could involve installing cameras in one out of every 20 trucks. That offers enough performance data to compare with other drivers while providing the opportunity for all to see the system up close and “dispel myths on how the system is used.”

In Central Oregon’s case, it started with a test of two trucks. From there, a video pilot program included 25 volunteers. Eventually, the decision was made to go fleet-wide with the SmartDrive system. Each tractor has one external- and one internal-facing camera. All drivers must use the external-facing camera, but some experienced drivers with safe driving records are allowed to opt out of using the internal one.

Pete Allen is chief client officer with MiX Telematics, which has 640,000 subscribers across a range of industries for its fleet solutions. That includes cameras that can be mounted externally to increase coverage around a vehicle. Regardless of whether it’s truckers or other drivers, he said it is crucial to be clear “how you intend to use this tool.” That includes when the cameras will never run, such as when in the sleeper berth.

Coaching drivers on risky habits —and citing them for when they perform well—is a lot easier if those risky actions are being recorded on video.

That was the message in a recent webinar sponsored by FleetOwner, with presenters from SmartDrive and Central Oregon Trucking Company, a SmartDrive client. SmartDrive’s video system captures a 360 degree view of a truck’s interior and exterior, revealing both driver behavior and the conditions under which the driver erred, or where the driver showed particularly strong driving skills.

Central Oregon has implemented the system, but Brad Aimone, the director of driver safety and services at Central Oregon (which is a Daseke company), made clear in the webinar that just having such a system is not adequate. A company needs to marry it to a dedicated coaching system, like Central Oregon has. SmartDrive can be provided with a company’s standards and guidelines, and its system can trigger a notice to the coaching staff of a client, which then kicks into action. But then the coaching team needs to kick in.

Aimone said Central Oregon’s coaching team consists of five coaches to support 300 drivers. Two of them are focused on video review and post-accident investigation.

A good coach, Aimone said, “has the ability to listen, not just to hear.” The coach also needs to have the interpersonal skills “that give you the ability to relate to the person on the phone.” He said 90-95% of the coaching does get done over the phone, so a coach does not have “nonverbal cues to go by.” The average coaching session is just three to five minutes. Training a driver to become a coach is about a six-week process, Aimone said and is open only to those who have been a “highly successful driver.”

The webinar featured videos that demonstrated the type of behavior that triggers coaching. In one of them, a driver on a cloverleaf ramp reached for his phone during the maneuver, and as a result moved to the right and off the road. Aimone said when he first discussed the incident, the driver was “adamant” that he had not reached for his phone. But upon seeing the video, “he said he had no idea I was doing that, and that made the coaching session different.”

In the second video—which unfortunately wasn’t able to be displayed, but was discussed by Aimone—the driver performed strong driving moves which helped avoid an accident. “Everyone likes a pat on the back,” Aimone said. “It was great to call that gentleman for a job well done.”

The goal of the process is not to be punitive, Aimone said. It’s not a process that would lead to a cut in pay, but if the violations are egregious or frequent enough, “you could lose your job.” He said in the two years that Central Oregon has operated the video-based coaching system, that has occurred twice.

Resistance to the suggestions made by the coaches do occur, but the videos help get the message through. “Everyone that drives a vehicle more than likely has developed bad habits,” Aimone said. “More than likely, they don’t even know it.” The videos coming from the SmartDrive system provide a “footprint” that can support data that is coming from the truck’s electronic control modules (ECM).

Kaitlin Jager, the senior customer success manager at SmartDrive who also was on the webinar, said that SmartDrive’s work before the coaching is to prepare a compilation of data and incident reports. But that is based not on any sort of SmartDrive standards, but on those of the client. “That is then sent to the company for targeted safety coaching,” she said.

While most of the coaching may be over the phone, Aimone said if he sees repeated behaviors by the same driver, he will find a reason to have that driver come to the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Oregon. “I’ll sit down and try to get inside their heads,” he said, and attempt to figure out what the issue is. The results generally improve with that sort of approach, Aimone added.

Central Oregon is in the process of having the SmartDrive system installed in the entire company’s fleet of approximately 300 trucks. There was resistance to it at first, with the suggestion by some that it was “spying” by Central Oregon. But with a grading system and rewards, “they actually like it,” Aimone said. And it’s been used by the company to protect drivers, he added, for example, when a police officer tries to hand down a citation for texting and driving, and the video record shows that no such texting was going on.

Distracted driving does go on, however, and the video records have allowed Central Oregon to implement a new policy. If a driver racks up three “camera events” of risky behavior with a cell phone, suspension or termination is now the penalty.

West Coast Dream Team Will Transport the 2018 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

On March 26th, 2018 TCA and CarriersEdge unveiled the two overall winners for 2018 Best Fleets to Drive For naming Central Oregon Truck Company as the Best Overall for Small Carrier and Bison Transport as the Best Overall for Large Carrier.

COTC has been participating in the CarriersEdge Best Fleets to Drive For competition since 2013 when CEO, Rick Williams, learned about the program.  Mr. Williams, a former flatbed driver, believes in the value of listening to drivers when developing Company policy.  He is also not one to back down from a challenge.  Deciding to participate in a competition of for-hire trucking companies that raise the bar in driver programs was probably the easiest decision he has ever made as CEO.

Each year, a COTC driver nominates the Company as a best fleet to drive for.  Then Mr. Williams, and his team, complete the questionnaire that collects information about COTC programs and policies in areas such as driver compensation and benefits; performance and recognition; human resource support; and operational strategy to name a few.  The 2018 competition included 98 questions that took more than 40 hours to complete. The questionnaire is followed up with an interview conducted by CarriersEdge of COTC management; and a survey completed by COTC drivers.  More than 60% of COTC drivers completed the 2018 Best Fleets to Drive For survey.

The results of the drivers’ survey are aggregated by CarriersEdge and used by the COTC management team to drive policy change in the coming year based on the feedback received.  The value of the survey responses to Mr. Williams and COTC management cannot be overstated.

Mr. Williams was humbled and honored to receive the award.  He stated in his acceptance speech,

What TCA and CarriersEdge do to bring to the forefront what we should all be doing for our drivers is amazing. We need to continue to work really hard for our driving teams.  Without dedication towards improving our industry and improving our businesses for all employees we wouldn’t be here.

We look forward to the 2019 Best Fleets to Drive For competition and hope to make the Top 20 for the sixth consecutive year.  COTC will continue to look forward, not back, and be a leader of change in the industry.

Watch the video for Best Fleets to Drive to For announcement at the 2018 TCA Conference for the Best Workplace Experience in the Small Carrier Category on the Truckload Carrier Associations Facebook page.

Read more about the Best Fleets to Drive For contest that recognizes the best workplaces for North American truck drivers.