Driver Safety Is A Top Concern In Fleet Management

A recent survey provided by GE Capital Fleet Services suggests that the major concern for fleet managers today involves the safety of drivers. More than 36 percent of all fleet managers cite driver safety as their main concern.

Just last year, only 23 percent of managers cited driver safety as their main concern. In last year's survey, the most important concern facing most fleet managers was cost efficiency.

“Cost savings is still among the leading fleet priorities. To help manage costs, fleet managers are using a number of different tactics. Forty-two percent cited vehicle purchasing decisions as the greatest opportunity for savings”.

While cost is still a major concern for many fleet managers, driver safety is still at the top of the list for most. Drivers of any vehicle are prone to be distracted while driving. Certain distractions like texting or using a mobile navigation application causes more than 80 percent of all crashes according to the NHSA or National Highway Safety Administration.

Field technicians are on the road for much of their workday so they have to understand that driving while distracted can cause a number of negative consequences for fleet management as well as their own safety.

“According to a 2009 NHTSA study (in conjunction with Virginia Tech Transportation), commercial service vehicles and trucks are more prone to the effects distracted driving; texting while operating a complicated maneuver in a service vehicle, for example, almost quadruples the chance of a crash or near-crash”.

Drivers should be offered instruction on the importance of safety while driving. Distractions such as cell phones and tablets should never be used while driving. Experts agree that not having a cell phone on when driving could help many to avoid crashes or near crashes. While mobile technology has certainly helped drivers to keep in touch with home offices, organize their day and communicate with customers, their use should be avoided when the driver is actually operating a vehicle.

Minimizing the paperwork that needs to be done in the vehicle can also help to keep drivers from being distracted. Software programs that help to minimize actual written paperwork can make the process faster. Paperwork should be managed before the driver begins driving or it should be saved for a later time, when the driver is not behind the wheel. Digital programs that allow drivers to instantly send back their paperwork can be very beneficial in these cases.

Preventable accidents are common. The definition of a preventable accident is one that could be avoided but is not because the vehicle driver has failed to act in a manner that would have prevented the crash. It can be difficult to determine whether or not a driver actually had reasonable actions for avoiding an accident.

“Preventable accident on the part of a motor carrier means an accident (1) that involved a commercial motor vehicle, and (2) that could have been averted but for an act, or failure to act, by the motor carrier, or the driver”.

A fleet safety management tool that will establish the safe driving standard for drivers and evaluate drivers could help to solve many preventable accident issues. Programs that are designed for management could help to monitor the effectiveness of programs implemented to enhance fleet safety. They could aid in the implementation of recognition programs for drivers who meet certain safety criteria and evaluate the performance of individuals and the fleet as a whole with regards to safety.

Fleet managers that are concerned about driver performance and safety should take the steps necessary to ensure that all fleet drivers are practicing safety habits and trying to avoid being distracted when behind the wheel.

Truck Driving Dog…Music Video of the Year?

Someone sent me this video and I thought it might be something you all would like too.

Enjoy!

We are almost done with our free add-on for current TATEMS owners or trial users
called TATEMS reminders.

It's a program that will run in the windows system tray without TATEMS having to be open.

It will display your reminders quicker than the reminders popup inside TATEMS and it will email any segment to any number of recipients you want on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule.

You'll also be able to email selected reminders lists to anyone on demand.

I'll post a demo video here next week, and maybe a download link if it's ready.

Thanks Again,

and Have a Merry Christmas!

Have you seen this HOS cartoon?

The new drivers hours of service rules proposed by the FMCSA look like they are going to be a nightmare to track and even enforce.

Check out this HOS Cartoon.

What do you think about the new FMCSA HOS proposal ?

PROVISION	CURRENT RULE	PROPOSED RULE	NOTES
“DAILY” DUTY PERIOD
Off-duty period	10 consecutive hrs.	No change
“Driving Window”	For most drivers, 14 consecutive hrs. (may continue on-duty/not driving after 14 hrs.);”Regional” allowed one 16-hr. period “weekly” but release from duty required after 16 hrs;Non-CDL w/i 150 miles allowed two 16-hr. periods “weekly” (may continue on-duty/not driving after 16 hrs.).	For all property-carrying CMV drivers(unless excepted):14 consecutive hrs. with release from duty required at end of driving window;16 consecutive hrs. no more than twice “weekly” with release from duty required at end of driving window.	Any on-duty time after 14th hour constitutes use of a 16-hr. period.
Max. on-duty within driving window	Normally 14 hrs; 16 hrs. once per week for “regional” drivers; 16 hrs. twice per week for non-CDL w/i 150 miles.	13 hrs.	Proposal not applicable to non-CDL 150 mile short-haul drivers. 13 hrs. during 14- or 16-hour driving windows for others.
Max. driving within driving window	11 hrs.	10 or 11 hrs. (Both being considered)
Limit on consecutive hours of driving	None	May drive only if it has been 7 hours or less since last off-duty period of at least 30 minutes	Proposal not applicable to non-CDL 150 mile short-haul drivers.
“WEEKLY” DUTY PERIOD
Max. on-duty hours	60 hrs. in 7 days/ 70 hrs. in 8 days	No change
“Restart”	34 consecutive hrs.	See “limits on restarts” below.
Limits on Restarts	None	(1) Must include two periods between Midnight-6 a.m.; (2) May only be used once per week.	Driver must designate the period being used as a restart
SLEEPER BERTH
When used as substitute for 10 consecutive hrs. off duty	Two periods: One at least 8 consecutive hrs. in SB; other at least 2 hrs. SB or off-duty. The shorter period does NOT extend the driving window.	Continue 8/2 hr. periods, but apply same new driving, on-duty, and duty-period limits as proposed for non-SB drivers.
DEFINITION OF ON-DUTY TIME
On-duty time	Includes any time in CMV except sleeper-berth.	Does not include any time resting in a parked CMV. In moving CMV, does not include up to 2 hrs. in passenger seat immediately before or after 8 consecutive hrs. in sleeper-berth.	Also applies to passenger-carrying drivers.
OILFIELD EXEMPTION
Oilfield exemption	“Waiting time” for certain drivers at oilfields (which is off-duty but does extend 14-hr duty period) must be recorded and available to FMCSA, but no method or details are specified for the recordkeeping.	“Waiting time” for certain drivers at oilfields must be shown on RODS or electronic equivalent as off duty and identified by annotations in “remarks” or a separate line added to “grid.”	“Waiting time” is not included in on-duty time or the calculation of the 14 or 16-hr. driving window.

Be sure to leave a comment below.