A driver telematic device is an instrument that records information about driver behaviour, including speed, braking pressure, and distance travelled. When installed in your car, they are great tools for knowing your driving habits and increasing performance and safety results. In a business, the use of driver telematics can help drivers communicate with fleet managers about potential issues. They are often used as a black box or mobile phone app or can be installed into a vehicle.
Keep on reading to learn more about how telematics can improve safety results and increase performance.
Which industries are driver telematics used in?
Driver telematics are used in many sectors that uses vehicles for transportation, especially in freight and transportation industries. This is important if your business has a fleet of vehicles out on the road because a driver telematic device can help fleet managers determine the location with the GPS system, as well as any common performance issues and job or load status across the fleet.
It’s important to remember also that improved safety and performance results work hand in hand.
How can driver telematics improve safety and performance results?
Accidents in the fleet
Driver telematics do a great job in improving safety results. According to RSA, 94% of all crashes are down to human error, over a genuine accident. Therefore, brushing up on skills that can prevent a road traffic accident will increase the safety of the fleet. Because driver telematics include finely detailed insights, the devices can give data on the drivers to management giving recommendations they may need more training, as well as the type of coaching required.
For example, the devices can pick up data on certain behaviours such as sudden or sharp braking, and harsh acceleration which all lead to a higher risk of a collision. The data can also help identify patterns across a fleet, so more general issues can be picked up and worked on, like a lack of rest breaks.
If individuals have better training, then they are more likely to not only drive safely but also drive in a better way that is going to be more economically friendly. This can extend to their leisure driving outside of work, making the roads safer for all.
Rest Breaks
Another important way driver telematics can improve safety results is through the number of rest breaks drivers take. Since the devices are sending data, it will be flagged to the managers that not enough driving breaks are being done on a long-distance trip for vehicles that are not governed by a digital tachograph. With 10-20% of all crashes being caused by driver fatigue, it’s important that drivers take regular breaks to ensure they are safe during long driving periods.
In terms of performance, drivers that have had the most appropriate number of breaks will drive more effectively and potentially can react quicker to traffic, finding an alternative route which will be faster in the long run.
A reduced number of collisions can also save a fleet money. If vehicles are being driven safely, then the wear and tear on the vehicle will be reduced, leading to a reduction in maintenance costs as well as emissions.
A Positive Culture
It’s important to mention that the use of driver telematics shows to all employees in a fleet that the business has a duty of care and wants employees to work in a safe, productive manner. If drivers are looking to improve their driving, the telematics results can come up and show positive results on safety and performance.
This will overall lead to employees becoming more aware of their driving and may implement safer measures, which will show up in the results.
Feedback from Employees
The telematics system can also allow for feedback from drivers on their own wellbeing, and safety. This further relates to a positive culture and will help keep employees in the long term in the business because they feel they are being cared for. Combining this with route optimisation software helps to create a system by which employees and the business are improving.
To improve performance, drivers can also recommend any maintenance tips to be actioned for the fleet vehicles via an app on a Smartphone device. This will help keep vehicles on the road for longer because they will be in the best condition possible. The driver telematics can help make sure that routine maintenance checks are being performed on all vehicles prior to setting off on a journey. If a vehicle is effectively maintained, it will not only be safer but also will perform effectively out on the road.
Overall, we hope this article has helped you to understand how the use of driver telematics can improve safety results and increase performance for fleets. You can also decide to use a driver telematic device in your leisure vehicle too, to help provide maintenance tips and safety precautions for you and your vehicle.
