Using The Power Of Telematics To Coach Drivers And Achieve Better Outcomes

Telematics tells you what your drivers are doing right — a far cry from the perception that fleet dash cams are simply “Big Brother” taking drivers to task over every perceived infraction. By coaching your fleet, you reinforce positive behaviors, which leads to greater road safety, adherence to corporate policy and greater retention.

All drivers develop bad habits over time. For this reason, it’s not enough to simply equip your fleet with commercial dash cams or electronic logging devices (ELDs). Compliance, while important, isn’t the only puzzle piece to improving performance and road culture. An integrated scoring system, such as ZenScore, ZenduIT’s driver performance scoring system, works within a telematics platform to help your drivers course-correct in real time, highlight areas for improvement and prevent future incidents.

Telematics has been a game-changer for fleets of all sizes. By using it as a coaching tool for your drivers, it’s possible to improve safety and performance while positively impacting your bottom line. Want proof? Derek Gaston, the supervisor of truck operations for CN Rail reported that since his fleet began using in-cab telematics to coach his drivers, his fleet has seen a 40% drop in accidents. According to Merchants Fleet, “a 10% driver safety score improvement resulted in an 8% reduction in preventable accidents,” after implementing their telematics system.

Furthermore, a 2015 Bobit Business Media Telematics Survey reported the following percentile decreases for companies who actively employ telematics in their fleets:

• Fuel consumption went down 10.2% 
• Accident costs were reduced by 21.1%
• Labor costs decreased by 11.8%

Telematics data works, but data without purpose or follow-through can limit your fleet’s potential. Coaching is the return on your telematics investment. By using targeted data, you create an opportunity for feedback and help your drivers improve their performance, while saving your company money and resources.

What Happens Without Telematics?

Just as telematics provide context around driving behaviors by recording triggered events, coaching provides context for improved performance over time. Without coaching, your drivers will be less likely to course-correct and more likely to view ELDs as intrusive corporate surveillance.  

Commercial dash cams aren’t installed so that fleet managers can watch endless hours of video and record what their drivers do all day. Today’s cameras are incredibly smart; they provide context and visibility into safety in a way that no other technology can by focusing on specific triggers, such as harsh braking, excessive speed or cell phone use in the cab. Ultimately, the safety of your drivers and other motorists is paramount; Zenducam has full-service solutions to optimize your fleet’s safety culture.

Benefits

When you score your fleet’s driving behavior, you’re doubling down on safety, transparency and accountability, three main pillars that should uphold every commercial fleet. Coaching your drivers empowers them to do their job safely, effectively and more efficiently. To that end, the integrated scoring platform you use should offer the opportunity for direct coaching in a way that empowers drivers.

Positive Reinforcement

The goal of coaching is to identify specific triggers for the purposes of safety, exoneration and operational efficiency. Positive reinforcement in coaching is akin to reviewing a recorded sports event; there’s an opportunity to tell the ‘player’ what they did right, as well as where they could improve their performance. In combination with rewarding safe driving practices (like defensive driving), positive feedback that is specific and actionable will help build company morale, as well as enhance driver retention.

ZenScore is ZenduIT’s proprietary driver performance scoring system, available on the Trax platform. It offers individualized feedback that helps drivers understand what was done incorrectly in a particular instance, and how improvements could be made. Motivating drivers with feedback and regular communication offers a greater value-add and helps your fleet understand the goals of your safety program.

Coaching Incentivizes Safety

By making scorecard results available across the company and creating rewards programs around ZenScore data, your fleet will come to see scoring, ranking and coaching as a regular part of your corporate culture rather than as a punitive measure. You could, for example, encourage friendly competition by identifying your fleet’s top performers, make accident exonerations available to your fleet, or provide positive feedback to employees who improve their driving safety by mentioning them in your quarterly newsletter.

Feedback In Real-Time

Imagine being able to provide your driver with specific, in-vehicle feedback as events occur, rather than offering generic observations after the fact. ZenScore data measures performance in real time, allowing fleet managers to receive notifications when specific driving behavior is detected (speeding, harsh braking, sharp turns, etc.) and customize reports to your specific needs. Based on the alerts you’ve set up, reports can identify fleet drivers that need more training, allowing you to monitor fleet safety in real time and set performance benchmarks. 

Fewer Accidents, Lower Insurance

Coaching your drivers can identify those most at risk for a collision or drivers who could benefit from additional training. Scorecard info and video footage triggered by events such as traffic accidents go a long way in exonerating your drivers; this not only results in fewer accidents, but also attracts lower insurance rates as a result of decreased liability. 

When your fleet is aware of their performance and the areas in which they can improve, you’ll start to notice less wear and tear on vehicles, including less idling, lower engine strain and increased fuel efficiency.

Culture Of Safety

Telematics help managers sort through actionable data points to standardize training and help retain top-tier drivers. When combined with coaching and positive reinforcement, you’ll see increased driver safety while promoting and improving driving in the field, all of which contribute towards a positive, efficient and safe work culture.

Take a proactive approach to safety; find out how our driver coaching tools can help you achieve positive outcomes, improve future performance and build a positive fleet culture. Contact us today to learn more about how fleets can (and should) be implementing scoring and coaching solutions!