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.



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.

Pt a pt a mpt .

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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.

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